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EEVIVAL 



SKETCHES AND MANUAL. 



IN TWO PAKTS. 



BY REV. HEMAN HUMPHREY, D. D.. 

PITTSFIELD, MASS. 









PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. / (, ^G 



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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the 3'ear 1859, by the American 
Tract Society^ in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern 
District of Xe-w York. 



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CONTENTS. 



PART I. 
REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

CHAPTER I. 

SUMMARY VIEW— TO THE DAY OF PENTECOST 
AND THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 

The history of the church a history of revivals — What is a revival of 
religion ? — Revival in the time of Joshua — Josiah and other kings 
— After the captivity — New Testament — John the Baptist — The 
day of Pentecost — The apostolic age — Testimony' of Pliny and 
Tertullian • 11 

CHAPTER II. 

"THE GREAT REFORMATION " —SIXTEENTH 
AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES. 

The dark ages — The Waldenses and other witnesses and martyrs — ■ 
"The Great Reformation" in the time of Luther, Calvin, etc. — 
Remarkable power and diffusion of the work — Scotland in 1625-8 
— "The Stuarton sickness" — Mr. Livingstone at the kirk of Shotts 
— North of Ireland, 1625 to 1628 — England in the days of Bunyan, 
Alleine, Howe, etc. — Ministry of Baxter at Kidderminster 26 

CHAPTER III. 

"THE GREAT AWAKENING"— EIGHTEENTH CEN- 
TURY, ABOUT 1740. 

Testimony of many as to the low state of religion — Revivals in 
Scotland — Cambuslang in 1742— England in the days of Wesley, 
Whitefield, Fletcher, Romaine, etc.— Lady Huntingdon and other 



4 CONTENTS. 

1 ' honorable women ' ' — The United States ; testimony of Danforth, 
Edwards, Increase and Cotton Mather, Prince, Blair — Degeneracy 
under the "Half-way Covenant" — Eevival under Edwards at 
Northampton — Labors of Whitefield, Tennent, etc. — Extent of 
the work — Newark and Elizabethtown — Truths chiefly urged in 
these revivals — "Bodily exercises" — Errors and recantation of 
Davenport — Benefits of these revivals-- 46 

CHAPTER IV. 
THE REVIVAL EPOCH ABOUT 1800. 

A period of general declension — Its causes : the "Old French war ;" 
the Bevolutionary war ; French infidelity and Bevolution — Per- 
sonal reminiscences of the commencement of the revivals — Bella- 
my, Edwards, Griffin, Hallock, etc. — Scriptural preaching — Dr. 
Griffin's life and testimony — Gordon Hall and Samuel J. Mills- -94 

CHAPTER V. 

THE REVIVAL EPOCH ABOUT 1800— Continued. 

Testimony of Dr. Griffin, 1797-9— Rev. Jer. Hallock, 1798, 9— Dr. 

A. Hyde, 1792— Rev. A. R. Robbins, 1799— Dr. T. M. Cooley— 
Rev. Jos. Washburn — Dr. Samuel Shephard — Rev. Alex. Gillett — 
Rev. Joshua "Williams — Rev. Moses Hallock — Rev. Asahel Hooker 
— Rev. Ira Hart — Dr. Ebenezer Porter — Judge Reeve and Judge 
Boudinot — Dr. Baldwin, and Rev. Messrs. Ledoyt and Seamans — 
Rev. Dr. "Wood — Rev. Jesse Edson — From Rutland, Vt. — Rev. J. 

B. Preston— Dr. Proudfit— Dr. Thos. De Witt— Dr. John M. Ma- 
son — Dr. Milledoler — Dr. Griffin in Newark — Dr. Wm. Hill at 
Hampden Sidney College — Dr. Archibald Alexander, in Va. — Dr. 
Furman of S. C. — Rev. Jos. Stevenson and Rev. Thos. Marquis, 
West Pa. — Dr. Davidson, in Kentucky and Tennessee — Dr. Cle- 
land — Dr. Dwight, in Yale College — Characteristics and fruits of 
these revivals : missionary efforts 118 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE REVIVAL EPOCH ABOUT 1800— Continued. 

Revivals in 1814 — Modes of conducting them — Rev. Asahel Nettle- 
ton — Testimony of Dr. Gardiner Spring — Bishop Mcllvaine — Dr. 
Archibald Maclay — Dr. Hyde — Dr. Porter — Dr. Ashbel Green — 
Dr. John McDowell— The author, at Pittsfield, 1821 206 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE REYIVAL EPOCH ABOUT 1800— Continued. 

Brief notices of revivals, 1815 to 1825 — Memoranda from Nettle- 
ton's life — Some things to be regretted — "Protracted meetings," 
"revivalists" — Revivals in colleges and seminaries — Yale, Will- 
iams, Mount Holyoke — Revivals on missionary ground — Sandwich 
islands, Burmah, etc., the American Indians — The revival of 
1858 — Prevailing worldliness of the church — Financial distress — 
Origin of the revival — Union prayer-meetings — Rapidity of its 
diffusion — Change in public opinion — Prayers for individuals 
answered — Dangers to be avoided — England and Scotland — Han- 
nah More, Newton, Fuller, Rowland Hill, etc. — Robert and James 
A. Haldane — General summary review - 259 



PAET II. 
REVIYAL MANUAL. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

"PREPARE YE THE WAT OF THE LORD." 

"0 Lord, revive thy work " — "Lord, increase our faith " — Hinder- 
ances to revivals — ' ' Take up the stumbling-blocks out of the 
way" — The Saviour's return — " Come down ere my child die" — 
Preaching to the church — Preaching to the impenitent — The pas- 
tor in a revival — "Where a revival has just commenced — Inquiry 
meetings— Conversing with the awakened and the unawakened 
in revivals— Instruction to candidates for membership— To per- 
sons about to join the church after a revival — To the converts in 
a revival when they join the church 303 

CHAPTER IX. 

BRIEF APPEALS. 

" Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" — " Come unto me, and I will 
give you rest" — "The carnal mind is enmity against God" — 
" Strive to enter in at the strait gate "— " She was nothing bet- 
ter, but rather grew worse " — "Go thy way for this time ; when 



CONTENTS. 

I have a convenient season, I will call for thee " — " Almost thou 
persuadest me to be a Christian" — "Commune with your own 
heart, and be still" — "Quench not the Spirit" — "The wiles of 
the devil" — To young converts — "He that endureth to the end 
shall be saved" -372 



REVIVAL CONVERSATIONS 



BETWEEN A PASTOR AND INQUIRERS. 

1. A delaying inquirer 425 

2. An inquirer satisfied with preparatory work 429 

3. Inquirer's plea that he had done all he could do 432 

4. Plea that he has not been long enough under conviction — 434 

5. Waiting for the influence of the Spirit -- -438 

6. Fearing he has committed the unpardonable sin 441 

7. Desponding and ready to give up hope of repentance 443 

8. Indulging a trembling hope - 445 

9. Afraid of religious excitement - 449 

10. Excuse that he had once obtained a hope which proved fal- 

lacious- - - - - 452 

11. Had attended all the meetings, and was discouraged -454 

12. That all his resolutions of future repentance proved futile- -455 

13. Fears that the privileges enjoyed will but aggravate his 

doom - - ---456 

14. Excuse from the fear that hopes suddenly obtained may be 

delusive - - - 458 

15. Excuse from the inconsistency of professors 460 

16. Gains no relief, and comes to the pastor as a last resort 462 

17. Clinging to a hope that may not abide 463 

18. Tests of a well-grounded hope - - 465 

19. Great doctrines of the gospel urged by a caviller 468 

20. Serious questions for self-examination 470 



INTKOBUCTION 



It is now more than thirty years since it struck 
me that a concise history of revivals from about the 
beginning of the nineteenth century might be accept- 
able to the churches, as a sort of Christian manual to 
help the cause of pure and undefiled religion in the 
present and in "the generations following." Having 
come upon the stage just at the commencement of that 
memorable epoch, and witnessed many revivals, I was 
moved to inquire whether the duty of attempting to 
gather and arrange the materials for such a history 
to the praise of sovereign redeeming mercy devolved 
upon me. I consulted Dr. Griffin on the subject, than 
whom few men had larger experience in revivals. He 
encouraged me to go on, and I made some collection 
of the narratives which were within my reach. But 
I soon became convinced that to do any thing like 
justice to the glorious theme, within reasonable lim- 
its, was a task beyond my powers, and for which I 
then could not command the time. As professional 
and public duties soon became more exacting and 
arduous, I dismissed the subject, and there the matter 
rested for more than twenty years. 

After I had withdrawn from the cares and labors 
of a public seminary, and of course had more leisure 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

for miscellaneous duties, I was requested to take up 
the question anew, of preparing a volume of revival 
narratives and reminiscences, reaching back to about 
the beginning of the present century. The request 
was from time to time renewed, by persons in whose 
judgment I had much confidence. My answer was, I 
am too old for such an undertaking : I could not sat- 
isfy myself, much less hope to do justice to the sub- 
ject. 

Moreover, as I reflected upon it, although the ma- 
terials at hand were ample, the field appeared to me 
quite too narrow. If I said any thing, I wished to 
go farther back and take a wider range. It seemed 
to me that I ought to inquire how far back the his- 
tory of revivals could be traced ; and if they were 
found to be of very ancient date, to inquire whether 
their essential features had been everywhere the same ; 
and whether or not the work of redemption had been 
carried on by the Holy Spirit chiefly by these " times 
of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.' 7 I sus- 
pected it would be found that religion has never flour- 
ished and rapidly extended its saving influence, but 
in connection with special reformations, or revivals 
as we now call them, interrupted by longer or shorter 
seasons of declension. 

As this opened so wide and so interesting a field 
of inquiry, I at length consented to the attempt, 
though with many misgivings as to my being able to 
go over so much ground, gather the materials scatter- 
ed along the ages, and bring out a book worthy of 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

being received by the churches as a small contribu- 
tion to confirm their confidence in the desirableness 
of more frequent and powerful revivals than have 
yet been enjoyed. The result of these inquiries has 
more than answered my anticipations, and will be 
found embodied in these sketches. Going back to 
the time of Joshua, and tracing this branch of the 
history of redemption down through the Old and New 
Testaments to the close of the apostolic age ; then on- 
ward, groping my way through the dark ages, to the 
Protestant Reformation ; and advancing still, from 
stage to stage, down to " the Great Awakening " 
about the middle of the last century, and the perhaps 
still more glorious work commencing almost simulta- 
neously with the present century, I have brought down 
the history, or rather the brief sketches embraced in 
the first part of this volume, to the present time. 

In the second part, which I have ventured to call 
a Revival Manual, I have first given my view of the 
way in which revivals should be sought for and pro- 
moted, then inserted brief practical addresses such 
as I have been accustomed to make in seasons of the 
outpouring of the Spirit, and closed the volume with 
some Pastoral Conversations, out of many which I 
have been permitted to hold with inquirers. 

I have fallen far short of reaching my own ideal 
of what such a book should be, but have " done what 
I could :" gratefully acknowledging special obligations 
to the several pastors and others whose communica- 
tions, written chiefly in the memorable era of the out- 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

pouring of the Spirit about the year 1831, were re- 
quested from them by the Rev. Dr. Sprague, and 
embodied as an appendix to his Lectures on Revi- 
vals. And now nothing remains but, lifting up my 
heart in fervent thanksgivings to the Infinite Source 
and Author of all true revivals, and imploring his 
blessing on this feeble " essay to do good," to commit 
it to Him who is able to make the weakest instru- 
mentality subservient to the building up of his king- 
dom in the world, and the accomplishing of his glori- 
ous purposes in the awakening, conversion, and salva- 
tion of sinners. H. H. 
Pittsfield, April 16, 1859. 



PAET FXKST. 



REVIVAL SKETCHES. 



CHAPTER I. 

SUMMARY VIEW— TO THE DAY OF PENTECOST 
AND THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 

The history of the church, including all the times 
of refreshing and drought that have marked its prog- 
ress, is identical with the history of Redemption. It is 
a living stream, as it were, springing just outside of the 
garden of Eden, scarcely discernible at first, but flow- 
ing down from age to age ; sometimes sparkling in 
the sunlight; sometimes all but swallowed up in the 
sands of the desert ; breaking out again in the prom- 
ised land; at one period a wide river, then a con- 
tracted rivulet almost hidden for long reaches, and 
widening again to keep the promise alive, when it 
seemed to have disappeared for ever in the stagnant 
marshes of Babylon. To drop the figure : the his- 
tory of the church, broken off by the seventy years' 
captivity, was renewed again when the remnant re- 
turned to their own land, under Ezra and Nehemiah. 



12 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

After that, scarcely any thing is said of her till we 
come down to the New Testament, to that remarka- 
ble awakening which took place in the days of John 
the Baptist, when a new and more spiritual dispensa- 
tion was close at hand, to be introduced and carried 
forward by the Lord Jesus Christ, as "Head over all 
things to the church." 

The first glorious era of her triumphs was that 
which marked the apostolic age, and to which, in 
spite of all opposition, so many chapters, full of the 
first promise, have since been added, which promise 
will reach its high and glorious culmination when 
those great voices shall be heard in heaven, saying, 
"The kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
doms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign 
for ever and ever," 

How, then, has this work of Kedemption been 
mainly carried on hitherto ; and how have we reason 
to expect it will be hereafter ? In looking back, we 
shall find that seasons of special absorbing religious 
interest, which by common consent are now called 
the Revival of Eeligion, have a history. When did 
this history begin? How far back does it date? 
These are important questions ; but before answer- 
ing them there is a preliminary one. 

What is a Revival of Religion? What are some 
of its phases and true characteristics ? When may it 
be said there is a true Revival of Religion in any age 
or part of the world ? 

We answer, a temporary religious excitement, 
however high it may rise, which does not go down 
into the hidden man of the heart, and stir up the 



WHAT IS A TRUE REVIVAL? 13 

depths of the soul to the earnest inquiry, " What must 
we do to be saved?" is not a true revival of relig- 
ion. There may be a whirlwind, and the Lord not 
be in it. There may be great mental and physical 
excitement where there are few or no conversions. 
Nor where only a very few persons are about the 
same time awakened and truly converted by the Spirit 
of God, is there what we understand by a revival, 
though it is the self-same Spirit that worketh so 
mightily when hundreds are born again and seen fly- 
ing as a cloud and as doves to their windows. As it 
is not here and there a ripening cluster that makes a 
vintage, nor a few sheaves that make a harvest, nor 
a few drops that make a shower, so a few drops of 
mercy, falling on individual souls here and there, do 
not constitute what is usually termed a revival of 
religion. 

What is it, then ? A genuine revival is the fruit 
or effect of a supernatural Divine influence, which 
restores the joy of God's salvation to backsliding 
Christians, startles the dead in trespasses and sins, 
convinces them of their lost and perishing condition, 
and makes them willing in the day of God's power. 
In the church there is a genuine revival when she 
rises and shakes herself from the dust and puts on 
her beautiful garments, which have been laid aside to 
her great discomfort and reproach. In a congrega- 
tion there is a true revival when impenitent sinners 
in considerable numbers are awakened and converted 
within a few days or weeks, and "many are added to 
the Lord of such as shall be saved." 

In their essential nature and effects, all genuine 



14 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

revivals are alike. Since true religion is everywhere 
the same in essence, so must genuine revivals be in 
every age and in every part of the world. But there 
may be great diversities in many respects. They may 
be frequent, or far between. They may be isolated, 
here and there one springing up while the wise and 
foolish virgins all around are slumbering together; 
or they may simultaneously occur over wide regions 
that had long been parched by spiritual drought. In 
like manner, a revival of religion may be more or 
less powerful, and may continue for a longer or short- 
er time. It may show the sovereignty of God in hav- 
ing mercy upon whom he will have mercy, in a more 
or less striking manner. He may send the blessing 
by whom he will send, and may bring scores or hun- 
dreds or thousands into the church, or only a smaller 
number. One revival originates in a Sabbath-school, 
and spreads over a whole congregation ; another 
breaks out suddenly in an academy, a factory, in a 
sailor's Bethel, or in a penitentiary. One revival 
takes in persons of all classes, and another reaches 
one or two classes, leaving the rest as it found them. 
One pervades the whole town, while another is con- 
fined mainly to the centre, or the out districts. One 
begins among the higher classes, and another among 
the lower ; one with the young men, another with the 
young women, and another with one or both sexes in 
middle life. But wherever and however, it is the 
same Holy Spirit "turning men from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan unto God." 

So, again, while all genuine revivals agree in the 
essential things, the subjects of them are variously 



OLD TESTAMENT TIMES. 15 

wrought upon in the progress of the work. In some 
cases, God makes a short work, drawing sinners at 
once to the foot of the cross ; in others, convictions 
of sin and wrath long continue before Christ is re- 
vealed to them. In one revival the thunderings of 
the law as it were constrain sinners to "flee from 
the wrath to come " to the only Refuge ; in another, 
the sweet voice of mercy sounding out from Calvary 
by the same divine power draws them as with cords 
of love. 

Revivals may and actually do exhibit all these 
and other different phases, modified by such agencies 
as God is pleased to employ for his own glory in 
building up his spiritual kingdom. 

Bearing in mind these leading characteristics, and 
divers operations by the same Spirit, the way is now 
prepared to inquire where and how long ago did 
these special operations of the Spirit begin, and 
briefly to trace them down through the ages to the 
present time. 

Whether any thing like a revival took place 
when, in the days of Enos, men began to call upon the 
name of the Lord, we are not informed ; but when the 
flood came, the whole earth was filled with violence. 

And so after Noah, when Abraham was called, it 
seemed as if the apostasy had again become nearly or 
quite universal. Certain it is that he went out alone 
as a true worshipper, "not knowing whither he went." 
There was no organized church in the world, nothing 
like it, till through his faith in the divine promise 
one was established in his family ; and then Isaac 



16 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

and Jacob and Joseph, and others of like precious 
faith, became heirs of the promise. 

But among their posterity there was rapidly a 
great falling away from the worship of the true God. 
All along there was doubtless a remnant, according 
to the election of grace ; but we do not find recorded 
a general reformation till we come to the last chapter 
of Joshua. Of those who were twenty years old and 
upward when they left Egypt, all, save Joshua and 
Caleb, had perished in the wilderness. But now the 
time had come when there was to be a great national 
reformation. Joshua, knowing that he must soon lay 
down his high commission and die, gathered all the 
tribes together at Shechem, that he might meet them 
for the last time, and give them his dying charge. 

It was a solemn and imposing uational convoca- 
tion. All the people hastened with alacrity to meet 
their aged and beloved chief, and to hear his parting 
words. As the chosen captain of the Lord's hosts, he 
had led them on from victory to victory, had divided 
the promised land • among them according to their 
tribes, and nothing now remained but his final charge 
and benediction. When the hour had come, we seem 
to see him rising in the midst of the vast assembly, 
every whisper hushed, and every eye fastened upon 
him, as he waved his hand and commenced his ad- 
dress by glancing at the origin of their nation, the 
remarkable history of God's dealings with them, from 
the calling of Abraham down through their sore Egyp- 
tian bondage, their miraculous deliverances, their 
wanderings in the wilderness, and their now quiet 
settlement in the land of promise. This done, he 



OLD TESTAMENT TIMES. 11 

proceeded to pronounce the final charge for which he 
had called them together. And what a charge ! 

"Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in 
sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which 
your fathers served on the other side of the flood and 
in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord." The appeal was 
overwhelming. It melted down the whole of that 
vast assembly, and they answered as one man, "God 
forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other 
gods." Joshua, following up the appeal, held them 
to their promise. "Ye are witnesses against your- 
selves that ye have chosen the Lord, to serve him. 
And they said, We are witnesses. The Lord our 
God will we serve, and his voice we will obey. So 
Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, 
and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 77 

Had the record closed here, we could not know 
that the tribes were sincere in these solemn reiterated 
promises, or that if they were sincere, it was not a 
mere burst of sympathetic emotion, which soon sub- 
sided. But the event proved that it was a great and 
abiding national reformation, by whatever name it 
might be called ; the most remarkable in this respect 
on sacred record, for it is added, " When Joshua had 
let the people go, the children of Israel went every 
man unto his own inheritance, to possess the land. 
And the people served the Lord all the days of 
Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived 
Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the 
Lord that he did for Israel. 77 This was indeed a 
glorious revival of true religion. 

After that generation passed off from the stage, 



18 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

there was a great falling away under the Judges, 
down to the time of Samuel, a period of about three 
hundred years. Towards the close of his life there 
seems to have been something like what we should 
call a general awakening. The people were brought 
under great alarm, and confessed their sin in reject- 
ing the Lord and asking for a king. But the prophet 
had not been long in the grave when the great body of 
the people relapsed into their former state, or rather, 
for the most part waxed worse and worse. 

The succeeding centuries under the Kings, many 
of whom, especially those of the ten tribes, God 
"gave in his anger" to a people who " would not have 
Him to reign over them," were marked by shameless 
idolatry, high-handed, heaven-daring sins, by awful 
prophetic warnings and denunciations, and by mar- 
vellous divine interpositions, both in judgment and 
in mercy. Under David and Solomon, God fulfilled 
all the good things which he had spoken ; and in the 
Psalms of David then sung, perpetuated his exalted 
praises through all periods of time. But though the 
pious Asa and Jehoshaphat reigned in Judah, and 
Elijah seemed to have exterminated the worship of 
Baal in Israel ; though Hezekiah, strengthened by the 
prophecies of Isaiah, wrought a glorious and wide- 
spread reformation; and though, "weary with for- 
bearing," God had driven the ten tribes into captiv- 
ity, yet Manasseh sinned beyond all who had gone 
before him, and hope almost expired. 

I do not mean to say that at any period there 
were no true conversions; there certainly were a 
great many. The church was kept alive from age to 



OLD TESTAMENT TIMES. 19 

age, notwithstanding the general apostasy. In the 
darkest time, when Elijah himself gave up all for 
lost, and fled, he was assured that there were seven 
thousand men in Israel who had not bowed the knee 
to the image of Baal. 

We now come to that most remarkable, though 
temporary reformation, which took place in the reign 
of Josiah. It commenced on this wise : In looking 
over some ancient records, Hilkiah the high-priest 
found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, 
which had been for a very long time out of sight and 
out of mind. He brought it out, and when it was 
read in the ears of the king, he rent his clothes, and 
trembled under its terrible denunciations. He felt 
that something must be done at once to turn away 
the great wrath of the Lord, which hung like a storm 
of fire over the nation. He saw that it admitted of 
no delay, and issued his proclamation for a general 
gathering of the people. When the time came, he 
went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men 
of Judah, and all the men of Jerusalem with him, and 
the priests and the prophets, and all the people, both 
small and great, and he read in their ears all the 
words of the book of the covenant which was found 
in the house of the Lord. It was an august assembly, 
and a most solemn occasion. It was the first step in 
the reformation. Josiah next made a tour through 
the kingdom, destroying all the places of idolatrous 
worship as he went, and commanding all the people 
to keep the passover, as enjoined in the book of the 
law. They hastened to obey; and the sacred histo- 
rian adds, "There was not held such a passover in 



20 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all 
the days of the kings of Israel." Externally it cer- 
tainly was a wonderful reformation ; and we have no 
reason to doubt that many truly repented and turned 
unto the Lord. But again there was an alarming 
decline, which continued to increase for a hundred 
years, till the captivity of Judah in Babylon, and 
was not arrested till the days of Ezra and Nehe- 
miah. 

Soon after the return of the people from their 
long captivity, there was a great reformation. The 
people gathered themselves together in Jerusalem as 
one man, and called upon Ezra to bring out the book of 
the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to 
Israel ; and he read therein from morning till midday, 
"and the ears of all the people were attentive unto 
the book of the law." And when he opened the book 
in the sight of all the people, they all stood up. And 
when he blessed the Lord, the great God, " all the 
people answered, Amen, amen, lifting up their hands ; 
and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the 
Lord with their faces on the ground." And they 
proved their sincerity by hastening to do works meet 
for repentance. They at once restored the worship 
of God which had fallen into disuse, and separated 
themselves from the heathen family alliances which 
they had formed during the captivity. This was the 
severest test of all. 

After that we hear no more of their idolatries. 
Malachi, who lived a little later, was the last of the 
Old Testament prophets ; and for what more we 
know of the religious state of the Jews during the 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 21 

four subsequent centuries, at the close of which Shiloh 
came, we are indebted to uninspired writers. 

My object, in these rapid historical sketches from 
the Old Testament history, has been to show that 
God preserved the church from utter apostasy by 
special seasons of reformation, after long intervals of 
decline. This was the divine economy under the Old 
Testament. 

JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

Passing to the New Testament, we are naturally 
led to inquire, what evidence there is, if any, that the 
same divine economy was still to prevail. 

And first, how was it in the day of John the Bap- 
tist ? Was there any thing under his preaching like 
what are now called revivals? There was. "The 
word of the Lord came unto John in the wilderness, 
and he came into all the country about Jordan, preach- 
ing the baptism of repentance for the remission of 
sins," and under his fearless and rousing appeals, there 
was a great and general excitement among all classes 
of the people. The publicans, the soldiers, and even 
the Pharisees and Sadducees, came to him to be bap- 
tized, asking, " What shall we do?" It was more like 
a national religious awakening than we have found 
since the days of Joshua; for as Matthew testifies, 
" Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round 
about Jordan, went out and were baptized in Jordan, 
confessing their sins f and though we have reason to 
fear that in many cases it fell short of true repent- 
ance, we can scarcely doubt, I think, that many who 
came for baptism, were "born of water and of the 



22 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Spirit," and brought forth good fruits. Such a gen- 
eral religious excitement could never have taken 
place without a supernatural influence upon the hearts 
of men. The instrument was John, " crying in the 
wilderness, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand •" but the excellency of the power was of God. 
It was what would now be called a general revival, 
though by no means so pure as those afterwards in 
the apostolic age. 

THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 

We pass to the glorious " ministration of the Spir- 
it," given to " abide " with the church as the charac- 
teristic of the Christian dispensation — a gift which 
the Saviour promised to his disciples as better than 
his own personal presence. The riches of this gift 
were marvellously displayed on the day of Pente- 
cost, when thousands were converted and baptized. 
This wonderful scene was an earnest of what might 
be expected under the faithful preaching of the gos- 
pel, not of course in its visible miraculous features, 
but in its awakening and saving power upon the 
hearts of sinners. 

This we know was followed by a remarkable se- 
ries of revivals during the apostolic age. Thus, in 
the fourth chapter of Acts, we read that when Peter 
and John preached Jesus and the resurrection from 
the dead, many who heard the word believed, and 
the number of men was about five thousand. Again, 
in the sixth chapter, in connection with the solemn 
service of choosing and setting apart deacons, "the 
word of the Lord increased ; and the number of the 



THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 23 

disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly ; and a great 
company of the priests were obedient to the faith." 
In the eighth chapter, the disciples, scattered by per- 
secution throughout the regions of Judea and Sama- 
ria, "went everywhere preaching the word." Again, 
chapter ninth, " As Peter passed throughout all quar- 
ters, he came down to the saints at Lydda," and after 
the healing of Eneas, all that saw him in Lydda and 
Saron, "turned to the Lord." Again, chapter elev- 
enth, " They which were scattered abroad upon the 
persecutions that arose about Stephen, travelled as 
far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, and spake 
unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. The 
hand of the Lord was with them ; and a great num- 
ber believed, and turned unto the Lord." These 
were all so many glorious revivals in the midst of 
the years of the right hand of the Most High. And 
so we may be sure it was in all the cities where the 
gospel was planted in the primitive age. Indeed, it 
is hardly conceivable how the gospel could otherwise 
have so mightily prevailed in so short a time. That 
was preeminently the revival epoch of the church. 

Thus far we trace the divine economy by the un- 
erring guide of sacred history. It was not mainly by 
isolated conversions that the churches were built up, 
but under the outpouring of the Spirit, turning many 
at once from darkness to light, and from the power of 
Satan unto God. 

In tracing the history of the church down through 
the subsequent ages, we can look for no further guid- 
ance of the inspired record ; but the most obvious 
analogies would lead us to expect that we should find 



24 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

the same footsteps of Christ travelling in the great- 
ness of his strength along his triumphant march, till 
he shall have subdued all things unto himself. 

The revival epoch, which began on the day of 
Pentecost, extended down through the second and 
into the third century ; and though ecclesiastical his- 
tory throws less light on the subject than we could 
wish, more than enough is found in the writings of 
the early fathers to show that the Christian religion 
rapidly spread throughout the Roman empire, and 
even beyond its boundaries, in spite of all the rage 
of earth and hell to crush it out. 

Pliny the younger, who was some time governor 
of Bithynia under the bloody emperor Trajan, ear- 
nestly dissuaded him from persisting in his persecut- 
ing edicts against the Christians in that province, not 
only by assuring him that they were a harmless peo- 
ple, chargeable with no crime, "meeting together to 
sing hymns and worship Christ as God," but that 
they were very numerous all over the province, and 
that the more they were punished the more they in- 
creased. 

Tertullian, who lived a century later, and died in 
216, writing to the Roman government in vindication 
of the new religion, as it was called, says, " Though 
we are strangers of no long standing, yet we have 
filled all places of your dominions, cities, islands, cor- 
porations, councils, armies, tribes, the senate, the pal- 
ace, the courts of judicature. If the Christians had 
a mind to avenge themselves, their numbers are abun- 
dant ; for they have a party, not in this or that prov- 



THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 25 

ince, but in all quarters of the world. Nay, if they 
were to combine and forsake the Roman empire, how 
vast would be the loss. The world would be amazed 
at the solitude which would ensue." 

In another place he expostulates thus with the 
persecuting governors of Africa : " If you persevere 
in your persecution, what will you do with these 
many thousands, both of men and women of every 
rank and every age, who will promptly offer them- 
selves ? Carthage itself must be decimated." 

Once more, after enumerating the nations who 
had believed in Christ, he declared that the gospel 
had penetrated into regions which were inaccessible 
even to the eagles of Rome. " Excellent governors," 
he exclaims, "you may torment, afflict, and vex us; 
your wickedness puts our weakness to the test, but 
your cruelty is of no avail. It is but a stronger invi- 
tation to bring others to our persuasion. The more 
we are mowed down, the more we spring up again. 
The blood op the Christians is seed." 

Here we have undeniable evidence of the rapid 
and wide spread of the church by the mighty power 
of God in what would now be looked upon as a mar- 
vellous series of revivals over many countries. The 
main difference, compared with any thing that has 
been witnessed in these modern times, lies in their 
permeating immensely greater populations. Call 
them great reformations, if you will. It is only an- 
other name, on a vast scale, of what we mean by the 
word revivals — turning " multitudes, multitudes," al- 
most simultaneously, from the worship of dumb idols, 
from the power of Satan unto God. 

Rev. Sketches. 2 



26 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

CHAPTER II. 

"THE GREAT REFORMATION." 
SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES. 

During the thousand years between the fifth and 
the fifteenth century, the annals of the true church 
are so illegible, so interlined and interpolated, so 
blotted by the grossest superstition, that it is difficult 
to trace her progress by any light we have. And yet, 
even in that long midnight of the world, the light 
glimmered as it were upon the tops of the mountains, 
and now and then broke out from the gloom, illumi- 
nating the promises when it seemed as if "the mer- 
cies of God were clean gone for ever." He who was 
with the church in the wilderness during her forty 
years' wanderings, did not forsake her, but kept the 
pillar of cloud and fire over her till she emerged into 
the glorious morning of the Protestant Reformation. 

Thus the gospel was wonderfully preserved among 
the Waldenses of Italy and the Culdees of Britain. 
In the thirteenth century there must have been great 
revivals, for in Bohemia alone, where the gospel had 
won its way, there were reckoned, in 1315, no less 
than 80,000 witnesses for the truth. So again in the 
fourteenth century, John Wyckliff, " the morning-star 
of the Reformation/ 7 heralded the day-spring in our 
fatherland, and many turned to the Lord. So was it 
also in the fifteenth century, under the labors of John 
Huss and Jerome of Prague, and more signally still 



SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 2t 

in the great religious revolution which a hundred 
years later shook the Papal throne to its foundations, 
through the instrumentality of Luther, Zwingle, Cal- 
vin, and the other illustrious reformers of that remark- 
able epoch. 

This reformation commenced early in the six- 
teenth century, and so rapidly did the light of the 
gospel spread over the principalities and kingdoms 
of Europe, so mightily did the word of God grow 
and prevail over all opposition, that it has ever since 
been called The Great Reformation ; and it was no 
less than a wide-spread and glorious revival. It was 
the reappearance of the divine economy in carrying 
forward the work of redemption. 

The night of the middle ages had been so long, 
that it seemed as if the day would never dawn. But 
the rising of the sun, glancing from land to land, 
proved that " God is not slack concerning his prom- 
ises." The prince of darkness could no longer hold 
all the nations in bondage. " The man of sin," drunk 
with the blood of saints and martyrs, and "exalting 
himself above all that is called God and is worship- 
ped," received a deadly wound, of which he has never 
been fully healed and never will be. 

The Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth cen- 
tury, under Martin Luther as the first and chief in- 
strument, was a religious revival on a vast scale. No 
other word so well expresses it. " Never certainly, 
since the days of the early Christians," says Rev. Dr. 
James W. Alexander, "was there so wide-spread a 
concern about religion. Never were there so many 
conversions. The published correspondence of the 



28 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

reformers, and particularly of Martin Luther and 
John Calvin, shows that a large part of their time 
was employed in giving counsel to inquiring souls. 
All the good and great men who were the chief in- 
struments in this amazing revival felt and avowed 
that it was entirely of God, and that nothing but the 
omnipotent Spirit would have produced the change 

which they observed and experienced So rapid 

was the progress of it, that in less than forty years, 
in face of the united opposition of the church and the 
empire, against all proscription, in spite of rack and 
fagot, the principles of evangelical religion had over- 
spread Germany, France, Switzerland, Holland, and 
the British isles. It was an outpouring of the Spirit, 
under which the mountains flowed down at His pres- 
ence ; it was a converting power that was acknow- 
ledged by tribes and nations. 

"The remarkable condition of religious things 
among our Puritan and Scottish ancestors, was the sim- 
ple consequence of this reformation revival prosper- 
ously carried out and made permanent. The work 

of grace was upon the hearts of multitudes 

North America was planted by Protestants, and 
largely by a race of men whose activity owned evan- 
gelical religion as its animating principle. They 
came out from the midst of great awakenings, and 
every arrival from the old country brought them 
news of the revivals which took place under the Bun- 
yans and Baxters of England. 

"In Scotland, religion made its progress in a kind 

of triumphal march The subjugation of a whole 

people within a brief period to the principles of the 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY— SCOTLAND. 29 

gospel, is proof that the church was increased with 
rapidity, and by large accessions ; in other words, 
that there was a great revival throughout the king- 
dom, in the modern sense of the term." 

Thus, in looking back three hundred years from 
our present stand-point upon that mighty upheaving 
of the moral world, " known and read of all men " as 
the Great Reformation, and making every abate- 
ment for its not having accomplished all that could 
have been desired, it is past controversy that it was the 
most remarkable Christian epoch since the days of the 
apostles. One of its main features was the resurrec- 
tion, as it were, of the cardinal doctrine of Justifica- 
tion by Faith alone, which being once disinterred from 
the Popish rubbish under which it had been buried 
for more than eight centuries, the combined efforts of 
earth and hell have not been able to force back into 
the old charnel-house of penances and purgatory. 

SCOTLAND— KIRK OF SHOTTS, 1625-8. 

The influence of the Great Reformation most dis- 
tinctly appeared, the next century, in England, Scot- 
land, and Ireland. In the reign of Charles I., there 
was a great persecution of the saints in Scotland 
who adhered to the faith of their pious fathers. The 
king and his counsellors were determined at all haz- 
ards to enforce Conformity there, as well as in Eng- 
land, to the national establishment. They doubtless 
would have prevailed, had not the Lord raised up 
witnesses for the truth, in the spirit of John Knox in 
the preceding century, and with much of his power. 
To all human appearance, that cruel usurpation would 



30 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

have been fastened upon that kingdom, but for re- 
markable divine interpositions, the most signal of 
which was the great revival of vital religion which 
began in Stewarton, in 1625, and lasted about five 
years. 

"This," says Fleming in his Fulfilling of Scrip- 
ture, " was, by the profane rabble of that time, called 
the Stewarton sickness; for in that parish first, but 
afterwards through much of that country, particu- 
larly at Irvine under the ministry of Mr. Dickson, 
it was remarkable, where it can be said that for a 
considerable time few Sabbaths did pass without some 
evidently converted, or some convincing proof of the 
power of God accompanying his word. And truly 
this great spring tide, as I may call it, of the gospel, 
was not of a short time, but of some years' continu- 
ance ; yea, thus, like a spreading moor-burn, the power 
of godliness did advance from one place to another, 
which put a marvellous lustre on those parts of the 
country, the savor whereof brought many from other 
parts of the land to see its truth." 

"Another token for good to the suffering church 
of Scotland, occurred in the year 1628. At a meet- 
ing of the Synod of Edinburgh, in the spring of that 
year, it had been agreed upon to apply to his majesty 
that a general fast might be held all over the king- 
dom. The ostensible causes adduced for this pro- 
posal, were the dangerous state of the Protestant 
churches abroad, and the prevalence of vice and im- 
morality at home. To these causes the Presbyterians 
naturally added the consideration of their own suf- 
fering state, and of the oppressive innovations im- 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY— SCOTLAND. 31 

posed upon the people. Much of the searching power 
of the Holy Spirit seems to have been granted to both 
ministers and people during their solemn fast, and 
many felt that in humbling themselves before God 
and making an earnest confession of sin, both national 
and individual, they obtained strength not their own, 
a spiritual strength preparing them for greater suffer- 
ings, and giving earnest of final deliverance. 

" In no individual instance,' probably, was the power 
of the Spirit more signally displayed than at the kirk 
of Shotts, on Monday, the first of June, 1630. It ap- 
pears that John Livingstone, a young man about twen- 
ty-seven years of age, who was at that time domestic 
chaplain of the Countess of Wigton, had gone to at- 
tend the dispensation of the Lord's supper at the kirk 
of Shotts. There had been a great confluence of 
both ministers and people from all the adjacent coun- 
try, and the sacred services of the communion-sabbath 
had been marked with much solemnity of maimer, and 
great apparent depth and sincerity of devotional feel- 
ing. When the Monday came, the large assembly of 
pious Christians felt reluctant to part without an- 
other day of thanksgiving to that God whose redeem- 
ing love they had been commemorating. Livingstone 
was prevailed upon to preach, though reluctant and 
with heavy misgivings of mind at the thought of his 
own unworthiness to address so many experienced 
Christians. He even endeavored to withdraw him- 
self secretly from the multitude, but a strong con- 
straining impulse within his mind caused him to re- 
turn and proceed with the duty to which he had been 
appointed. 



32 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

" Towards the close of the sermon, the audience, 
and even the preacher himself, were affected with a 
deep, unusual awe, melting their hearts and subduing 
their minds, stripping off inveterate prejudices, awak- 
ing the impenitent, producing conviction in the hard- 
ened, bowing down the stubborn, and imparting to 
many an enlightened Christian a large increase of 
grace and spirituality." 

" It w as known/' says Fleming, " as I can speak 
on sure ground, that nearly five hundred had at that 
time a discernible change wrought on them, of whom 
most proved lively Christians afterwards. It was 
the sowing of a seed through Clydesdale, so that 
many of the most eminent Christians of that country 
could date their conversion, or some remarkable con- 
firmation of their case, from that day. 

" Mr. Livingstone, the honored instrument by which 
this great work was wrought, was one against whom 
the tyranny of the suspicious prelates had been di- 
rected. Spottswood drove him away from his beloved 
charge in Torphichen. But in every case of contest 
between right and wrong, the most politic measure 
will prove injurious to those who employ it. When 
such men as Livingstone were driven from a parish, 
they were compelled to extend their influence over a 
wider sphere than would otherwise have been possible. 

"Not unfrequently, as in his case, they were re- 
ceived into the families of some of the nobility, where 
their unassuming manners and deep personal piety 
produced the most beneficial results, both to their pro- 
tectors and the cause for which they suffered. In 
this manner the ejected ministers, by their fervent 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY— IRELAND. 33 

and widely diffused labors, did much to prepare the 
great body of the nation for that struggle and revul- 
sion which was erelong to take place. 7 ' 

Thus it was when, after the martyrdom of Ste- 
phen, there was a great persecution of the church in 
Jerusalem, the disciples " went everywhere preaching 
the word/ 7 and many were turned unto the Lord who 
might otherwise never have been converted. 

NORTH OF IRELAND, 1625. 

In 1625, there was also a remarkable revival in 
the North of Ireland.* It took place under the 
labors of a band of faithful ministers, most of whom 
went over from Scotland — Brice, Glendenning, Ridge, 
Blair, and others. 

The province of Ulster, which has ever since been 
the brightest spot on the map of Ireland, was, when 
this reformation began, in a deplorable state of igno- 
rance and ungodliness. A great number of those 
who came over from England with the original pro- 
prietors and occupied their lands, were openly pro- 
fane and immoral, and generally inattentive to the 
institutions of the gospel. The following descrip- 
tion of the character of the population is given by 
Stewart. 

"From Scotland/ 7 he says, "and from England 
not a few, yet all of them generally the scum of both 
nations, from debt, or breaking, fleeing from justice, 
or seeking shelter, came hither, hoping to be without 
fear of man's justice, in a land where there was noth- 

* See Dr. James S. Reid's History of the Presbyterian 
Church in Ireland, vol. I. 

2* 



34 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ing, or but little as yet of the fear of God. Most of 
the people were all void of godliness, who seemed 
rather to flee from God in this enterprise than to 
follow their own mercy. 

"Thus on all hands atheism increased and disre- 
gard of God, iniquity abounded, with contention, 
fighting, murder, adultery, etc. ; and as they had 
nothing within them to overawe them, so their minis- 
ters' example was worse than nothing ; ' for from the 
prophets of Israel profaneness went forth into all the 
land/ Thus it was, that when any man would have 
expected nothing but God's judgment to have fol- 
lowed this crew of sinners, behold, the Lord visited 
them in admirable mercy, the like whereof had not 
been anywhere seen for many generations." 

This account is confirmed by Blair, who says, 
" The mercy (alluded to by Stewart) consisted in the 
band of faithful ministers who were now encouraged 
to take their lot in Ulster, and whose labors were 
remarkably blessed to the converting of many out of 
so profane and godless a multitude. Seven ministers 
constituted the first band, who labored with apostolic 
earnestness to remove the ignorance, formality, and 
profaneness which characterized the greater part of 
the early colonists. Possessed of the true missionary 
spirit, and inspired with a holy zeal to propagate the 
gospel, they commenced with vigor the work of evan- 
gelizing the land ; and though few in number and beset 
with many difliculties, they were favored with an ex- 
traordinary, if not unprecedented measure of success. 

" It was not long before their labors began to be 
visibly blessed. A remarkable improvement in the 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY— IRELAND. 35 

habits and demeanor of the people was speedily effect- 
ed. The thoughtless were roused to serious inquiry 
on the subject of religion, and the careless were 
alarmed ; the profane were in a great measure 
silenced, and the immoral reclaimed ; while the obsti- 
nate opposers of the gospel were converted into its 
willing and decided supporters. This spirit of relig- 
ious inquiry and reformation, which in a short time 
pervaded a considerable portion of the counties of 
Down and Antrim, was no doubt the result of that 
devotedness and fidelity by which the ministers in 
this part of Ulster were so eminently distinguished ; 
yet it appears to have first manifested itself under the 
ministry of the weakest of these brethren, whose lim- 
ited attainments and ill-regulated zeal were providen- 
tially overruled for the furtherance of the gospel." 

" This," says Mr. Stewart, " was the Lord's choice, 
to begin with him the admirable work of God, which 
I mention on purpose that all men may see how the 
glory is only the Lord's in making a holy nation in 
this profane land, and that it was ' not by might, nor 
by power/ nor by man's wisdom, ' but by my Spirit, 
saith the Lord.' 

"At Oldstone, God made use of him to awaken 
the consciences of a lewd and secure people there- 
abouts; for, seeing their character, he preached to 
them nothing but law, wrath, and the terrors of God 
for sin ; and in very deed for this only was he fitted, 
for hardly could he preach any other thing. But be- 
hold the success : for the hearers, finding themselves 
condemned by the mouth of God speaking in his 
word, fell into such anxiety and terror of conscience, 



36 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

that they looked on themselves as altogether lost and 
damned j and this work appeared not in one single 
person or two, but multitudes were brought to under- 
stand their way, and to cry out, 'Men and brethren, 
what shall we do to be saved?' And of these were 
some of the boldest spirits, who formerly feared not 
with their swords to put a whole market-town in 
affray. I have heard one of them, then a mighty 
strong man, now a mighty Christian, say that his end 
in coming to church was to consult with his compan- 
ions how to work some mischief; and yet at one of 
those sermons was he so catched, that he was fully 
subdued. But why do I speak of him? We knew, 
and yet know, multitudes of such men, who sinned, 
and still gloried in it, because they feared no man, 
yet are now patterns of sobriety, fearing sin because 
they fear God. And this spread through the country 
to admiration, especially about that river commonly 
called the Sis Mile water, for there this work began 
at first. 

"These religious agitations continued for a con- 
siderable time. The ministers were indefatigable in 
improving the favorable opportunities thus offered for 
extending the knowledge and influence of the gospel. 
The people awakened and inquiring, many of them 
desponding and alarmed, both desired and needed 
guidance and instruction. The judicious exhibition 
of evangelical doctrines and promises by these faith- 
ful men was in due time productive of those happy 
and tranquillizing effects which were early predicted 
as the characteristics of gospel times. Adopting the 
beautiful imagery of the prophets, the broken-hearted 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY— IRELAND. 37 

were bound up and comforted, the spirit of bondage 
and of fear gave way to a spirit of freedom and of 
love, the oil of joy was poured forth instead of 
mourning, and the spirit of heaviness exchanged for 
the garments of praise and thankfulness. As the 
people emerged from the anxiety and alarm produced 
by the stern preaching of the law, and gradually 
experienced the hope of the gospel, they would be 
naturally led to maintain among themselves a closer 
religious fellowship than they had done; and this 
proved to be the case. Hence originated those month- 
ly meetings at Antrim which afterwards attracted so 
much attention, and which in the mean time tended 
materially to strengthen and consolidate the good 
work that had been commenced. 7 ' 

The men whom God employed to carry on that 
great work were instant in season and out of season, 
laboring to instruct their people and promote vital 
religion, with a singleness of purpose and intensity 
of desire and untiring diligence, which, if ever equal- 
led, has at least been seldom surpassed. Blair thus 
describes his ministerial labors at Bangor : " My 
charge was very great, about six miles in length, and 
containing above twelve hundred persons come to 
age, besides children who stood greatly in need of 
instruction. This being the case, I preached twice 
every week, besides the Lord's day, on all which 
occasions I found little difficulty either as to matter 
or method. But finding still that this fell short of 
reaching the design of the gospel ministry, and that 
the most part continued vastly ignorant, I saw the 
necessity of trying the more plain and familiar way 



38 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

of instructing them ; and therefore, besides my public 
preaching, I spent as much time every week as my 
bodily strength could hold out with in exhorting and 
catechizing them. The knowledge of God increasing 
among the people, and the ordinance of prayer being 
precious in their eyes, the work of the Lord did pros- 
per in the place. And in this we were very much 
encouraged, both by the assistance of holy Mr. Cun- 
ningham and by the good example of his little parish 
of Holywood ; for knowing that diversity of gifts is 
entertaining to the hearers, he and I did frequently 
preach for one another, and we also agreed to cele- 
brate the Lord's supper four times in each of our con- 
gregations annually, so that those in both parishes 
who were thriving in religion did communicate 
together on all these occasions." 

The religious sentiments of all these ministers 
were those usually called Calvinistic, which at this 
period were maintained throughout the three national 
churches of the empire. A delightful harmony also 
prevailed. 

"Among all the ministers," says Livingstone, 
" there was never any jar or jealousy ; yea, nor among 
the professors, the greater part of them being Scots, 
and some good number of very gracious English, all 
whose contention was to prefer others to themselves ; 
and although the gifts of the ministers were much 
different, yet it was not observed that the people fol- 
lowed any to the undervaluing of others. Many of 
these religious professors had been both ignorant and 
profane, and for debt and want, and worse causes, 
had left Scotland. Yet the Lord was pleased by his 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY— IRELAND. 39 

word to work such a change, that I do not think 
there were more lively experienced Christians than 
were there at this time in Ireland. Being but lately- 
brought in, the lively edge was not yet gone off them, 
and the perpetual fear that the bishops would take 
away their ministers made them with great hunger 
wait on the ordinances." 

The singular success which attended the preaching 
of the word at this period, is also attested by another 
writer, who says, "I shall here instance that great 
and solemn work of God which was in the church of 
Ireland about the year 1628, and some years there- 
after, which may with propriety be said to have been 
one of the largest manifestations of the Spirit, and of 
the most solemn times of the down-pouring thereof, 
that almost since the days of the apostles hath been 
seen. Then it was sweet and easy for Christians to 
come thirty or forty miles to the solemn communions 
which they had, and there continue, from the time 
they came till they returned, without wearying or 
making use of sleep ; yea, with but little either meat 
or drink, and as some of 'them professed, they did not 
feel the need thereof, but went away most fresh and 
vigorous, their souls so filled with the sense of God." 

This remarkable revival in the north of Ireland, 
of which I do not remember to have met with any 
account till lately, so strikingly resembles in all its 
essential features those with which I have been famil- 
iar now for more than half a century, that the narra- 
tive strikes me as a familiar acquaintance, and I can- 
not doubt that it was wrought by "one and the self- 
same Spirit." 



40 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ENGLAND. 

At the same time that God was so gloriously 
reviving his work in Scotland and Ireland, about the 
middle of the seventeenth century, he was raising up 
a host of mighty champions for the truth in England. 
The persecution which raged so furiously against the 
Non-conformists, headed under the crown by such 
instruments as Archbishop Laud and Jeffries, and 
especially the "Act of Uniformity," passed in 1662, 
with the "Five Mile Act," by which two thousand 
godly pastors were forbidden to labor within five 
miles of their own churches, was a mighty struggle ; 
but instead of crushing and silencing the witnesses, 
the pent-up fire broke out even in their sufferings and 
imprisonments into a flame that was to enlighten and 
bless all coming generations. The Lord was on their 
side, and the. gates of hell could not prevail to blot 
out their testimony. Many of them were driven 
across the ocean to America, here in the wilderness 
to bear a prominent part in laying the foundations of 
civil and religious liberty, which have ever since been 
the bulwark and glory of our land. 

It was a great Protestant Reformation, though it 
had not, I believe, to much extent, those distinctive 
revival features which marked its progress in Scot- 
land and Ireland. 

Among the noble band of confessors we find the 
names of Bunyan, Baxter, Owen, Bishop Hopkins, 
Flavel, Alleine, Howe, and others, who have not 
been surpassed in any age for talents, for theological 
learning, for deep Christian experience, and for the 
valiant defence of " the faith once delivered to the 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY— ENGLAND. 41 

saints." We hazard little in saying that for doc- 
trinal, practical, and experimental religious instruc- 
tions and authorship, it was the golden age in the 
fatherland. What other age has produced so many 
volumes full of the marrow of the gospel, and indit- 
ed as it were so close on the verge of heaven ? What 
thousands have been guided in the Way of Life by 
Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress/ 7 and his "Grace 
Abounding to the Chief of Sinners •" and what thou- 
sands more have had the fulness of Christ revealed 
to them in Flavel's "Fountain of Life" and "Method 
of Grace." What would our own land as well as 
Great Britain have been but for this revival period 
in the seventeenth century? Who can tell how much 
of the seed that was then sown sprung up in that great 
awakening which is the subject of our next chapter ? 

Of the labors of these persecuted ministers, we 
find an illustrious example in Baxter at Kiddermin- 
ster, where he wrote his " Reformed Pastor," a stand- 
ard work for those who would witness the fruit of 
revivals in any age. 

Having been separated from his people in the 
violent political agitations and confusion of the times, 
and been brought near to death, when he wrote his 
"Saints' Everlasting Rest," he at length resumed his 
charge at Kidderminster. In his own account of his 
labors among them during fourteen years, he says, 

"I preached before the wars twice each Lord's 
day; but after the war, but once, and once every 
Thursday, besides occasional sermons. Every Thurs- 
day evening, my neighbors that were most desirous 
and had opportunity, met at my house and there one 



42 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

of them repeated the sermon; and afterwards they 
proposed what doubts any of them had about the ser- 
mon, or any other case of conscience, and I resolved 
their doubts. And last of all, I caused sometimes 
one and sometimes another of them to pray, some- 
times praying with them myself. Once a week also, 
some of the young, who were not prepared to pray in 
so great an assembly, met among a few more private- 
ly, where they spent three hours in prayer together. 
Every Saturday night they met at some of their 
houses to repeat the sermon of the last Lord's day, 
and to pray and prepare themselves for the following 
day. Once in a few weeks we had a day of humilia- 
tion, on one occasion or other. Two days every week 
my assistant and myself took fourteen families be- 
tween us for private catechizing and conference, he 
going through the parish, and the town coming to me. 
I first heard them recite the words of the catechism, 
and then examined them about the sense ; and lastly 
urged them, with all possible engaging reason and 
vehemence, to answerable affection and practice. If 
any of them were perplexed through ignorance or 
bashfulness, I forbore to press them any farther to 
answers, but made them hearers, and either examined 
others, or turned all into instruction and exhortation. 
I spent about an hour with a family, and admitted no 
others to be present, lest 'bashfulness should make it 
burdensome, or any should talk of the weaknesses of 
others ; so that all the afternoon, on Mondays and 
Tuesdays, I spent in this ; and my assistant spent the 
mornings of the same days in the same way." 

" I have mentioned my sweet and acceptable em- 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY— ENGLAND. 43 

ployment ; let me, to the praise of my gracious Lord, 
acquaint you with some of my success. My public 
preaching met with an attentive, diligent auditory. 
Having broke over the brunt of the opposition of the 
rabble before the wars, I found them afterwards trac- 
table and unprejudiced. 

"Before I ever entered into the ministry, God 
blessed my private conference to the conversion of 
some, who remain firm and eminent in holiness to this 
day. Then, and in the beginning of my ministry, I 
was wont to number them as jewels : but since then I 
could not keep any number of them. 

"The congregation was usually full, so that we 
were led to build five galleries after my coming 
hither, the church itself being very capacious, and 
the most commodious and convenient that ever I was 
in. Our private meetings also were full. On the 
Lord's day there was no disorder to be seen in the 
streets, but you might hear a hundred families singing 
psalms and repeating sermons as you passed through 
the streets. In a word, when I came thither first, 
there was about one family in a street that worship- 
ped God and called on his name ; and when I came 
away, there were some streets where there was not 
more than one family in the side of a street that did 
not so, and that did not, in professing serious godli- 
ness, give us hopes of their sincerity. And of those 
families which were the worst, being inns and ale- 
houses, usually some persons in each did seem to be 
religious. Though our administration of the Lord's 
supper was so orderly as displeased many, and the far 
greater part kept themselves away, yet we had six 



44 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

hundred that were communicants, of whom there were 
not twelve that I had not good hopes of as to their 
sincerity ; and those few that came to our communion 
and yet lived scandalously, were excommunicated 
afterwards. And I hope there were many who feared 
God that came not to our communion, some of them 
being kept off by husbands, by parents, by masters, 
and some dissuaded by men that differed from us. 

"When I commenced personal conference with 
each family and catechizing them, there were very 
few families in all the town that refused to come; 
and those few were beggars at the town's ends, who 
were so ignorant that they were ashamed it should 
be manifest. And few families went from me without 
some tears or seemingly serious promises for a godly 
life. Yet many ignorant and ungodly persons there 
were still among us ; but most of them were in the 
parish, and not in the town, and in those parts of the 
parish which were farthest from the town. Some of 
the poor men competently understood the body of 
divinity, and were able to judge in difficult contro- 
versies. Some of them were so able in prayer that 
very few ministers equalled them in order and ful- 
ness, apt expressions, holy oratory, and fervency. A 
great number of them were able to pray very appro- 
priately with their families, or with others. The 
temper of their minds, and the correctness of their 
lives, were even more commendable than their talents. 
The professors of serious godliness were generally of 
very humble minds and conduct, of meek and quiet 
behavior towards others, and blameless in their con- 
versation. 



SEVENTEENTH CEtt TORY— ENGLAND. 45 

11 One advantage which I had was through the zeal 
and diligence of the godly people of the place, who 
thirsted after the salvation of their neighbors, and 
were in private my assistants; and being dispersed 
through the town, they were ready in almost all com- 
panies, to repress seducing words, and to justify god- 
liness, and convince, reprove, and exhort men accord- 
ing to their needs ; and also to teach them how to 
pray, and to help them to sanctify the Lord's day. 
Those people that had none in their families who 
could pray or repeat the sermons, went to the houses 
of their neighbors who could do it, and joined with 
them ; so that some houses of the ablest men in each 
street were filled with them that could do nothing 
or little in their own. 

"And the holy, humble, blameless lives of the 
religious was a great advantage to me. The mali- 
cious people could not say, Your professors here are 
as proud and covetous as any. But the blameless 
lives of godly people shamed opposers, and put to 
silence the ignorance of foolish men, and many were 
won by their good conversation." 

Among the Puritan worthies was Blackerby, whose 
memoirs were blessed in kindling to higher Christian 
zeal the eminent Andrew Fuller, who was a leading 
spirit in establishing the monthly concert of prayer 
for foreign missions, and planting at Serampore the 
first of modern missions to India. 



46 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

CHAPTER III. 

"THE GREAT AWAKENING." 
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— ABOUT 1740. 

Precious and permanent as were the fruits of the 
great work of God in the seventeenth century, and 
though God all along raised up many valiant wit- 
nesses for the truth, yet, for some fifty years, begin- 
ning towards the close of that century, especially 
through the disabilities enforced by the " Act of Uni- 
formity," and the ravages of death among the cham- 
pions of the gospel, there was a falling away in the 
Protestant churches that became extremely alarming 
to those who still clung to the ark of the covenant. 
It was not so much that the Philistines threatened to 
come and carry it away, as that the priests, who 
should have borne it on, deserted it one after another, 
and went over to the enemy. 

Dr. Macfarlan, in his History of Revivals in the 
Eighteenth Century, says in respect to both England 
and Scotland, "About the end of the seventeenth and 
the beginning of the eighteenth century most of the 
churches were in a comparatively low state. The old 
style of preaching was being fast laid aside, and cold 
formal addresses, verging towards a kind of Socinian- 
ism, were becoming fashionable." 

Old Mr. Hutchison, who saw but the beginning 
of this progress, used to say, " When I compare the 
times before the Restoration with those since the 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 47 

Revolution, I must own that young ministers preach 
accurately and methodically; but far more of the 
power and efficacy of the Spirit and the grace of G-od 
went along with sermons in those days than now." 

From the Restoration down to the early part of 
the seventeenth century, both churchmen and Non- 
conformists unite in deploring the decayed condition 
of religion and morals.* 

Bishop Burnet says, " I am now in the seventieth 
year of my age, and as I cannot speak long in the 
world in any sort, I cannot hope for a more solemn 
occasion than this for speaking with all due freedom 
both to the present and to the succeeding ages. I 
cannot look on without the deepest concern, when I 
see the imminent ruin hanging over this church, and 
by consequence, over the whole Reformation. The 
much greater part of those who come to be ordained 
are ignorant, to a degree not to be apprehended by 
those who are not obliged to know it. There are 
those who have read some few books, yet many seem 
never to have read the Scriptures." 

Dr. Watts declares that there was a general decay 
of vital religion in the hearts and lives of men, and 
that it was common among dissenters and churchmen, 
and a matter of mournful observation among all who 
laid the cause of God to heart ; and he called upon 
every one to use all possible efforts for the recovery 
of dying religion in the world. In these sentiments 
it is well known that his endeared friend Dr. Dod- 
dridge fully sympathized. 

Another writer says, "The religion of nature 
* See Stevens' History of Methodism, vol. I. 



48 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

makes up the darling topics of our age, and the relig- 
ion of Jesus is valued only for the sake of that, and 
only as far as it carries on the light of nature, and is 
a bare improvement of that kind of light." 

Archbishop Seeker says, "In this we cannot be 
mistaken, that an open professed disregard has become 
the distinguishing character of the present age. Such 
are the dissoluteness and contempt of principle in the 
higher part of the world, and the profligacy, intem- 
perance, and fearlessness in committing crimes in the 
lower, as must, if this torrent of impiety stop not, 
become absolutely fatal. Christianity is ridiculed 
and railed at with very little reserve, and the teach- 
ers of it without any at all." 

Bishop Butler says, "It has come to be taken 
for granted that Christianity is no longer a subject of 
inquiry; and accordingly it is treated as if, in the 
present age, this were an agreed point among all per- 
sons of discernment, and nothing remained but to set 
it up as a principal subject for mirth and ridicule." 

Southey says, " The clergy had lost that authority 
which may always command at least the appearance 
of respect." 

Archbishop Leighton spoke of the church as a fair 
carcass without a spirit. 

Isaac Taylor, in his history of Methodism, says 
that when Wesley appeared, "the Anglican church 
was an ecclesiastical system under which the people 
of England had lapsed into heathenism, or a state 
hardly to be distinguished from it." 

Natural religion was the favorite study of the 
clergy and of the learned generally, and included 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— SCOTLAND. 49 

most of their theology. Collins and Tindall had 
denounced Christianity as priestcraft. Whiston pro- 
nounced the miracles to be Jewish impositions. Wool- 
ston declared them to be allegories. Arianism, So- 
cinianism, taught by such men as Samuel Clarke and 
Whiston, had become fashionable among the best Eng- 
lish thinkers. 

Some of the brightest names of the times can be 
quoted as exceptions to these remarks, but such was 
the general condition in England. The higher classes 
laughed at piety, and prided themselves on being 
above what they called its fanaticism; the lower 
classes were grossly ignorant, and abandoned to vice ; 
while the church, enervated by a universal decline, 
was unable longer to give countenance to the down- 
fallen cause of truth. 

The night was long and stormy ; but at length the 
day dawned, and the clouds began to break away. 

It is a fact worthy of the most profound consider- 
ation, and of grateful praise, that God opened the 
windows of heaven, and poured out a blessing almost 
simultaneously on England, Scotland, and America, 
about the year 1730. 

SCOTLAND. 

To begin, as in our notice of the work in the pre- 
ceding century, with Scotland. The habitations of 
horrid cruelty abroad, and the abominations of immo- 
rality at home, began to engage the public mind. 
There were here and there encouraging indications 
that the Sun of righteousness was about to arise upon 
the mountains and the moors with healing in his wings. 



50 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Among other indications, Mr. Robe of Kilsyth 
speaks of providential events affecting that parish, 
and preparing the way for what followed, as early as 
1733 ; and the direct means afterwards blessed, began 
to be used two years before the commencement of the 
revival. 

In 1740, (three years after Whitefield's public min- 
istry commenced in England,) Mr. Robe says, " I be- 
gan to preach on the doctrine of regeneration. This 
course of sermons was acceptable to the Lord's peo- 
ple, and there was more than ordinary seriousness in 
hearing them ; yet I could see no further fruit. But 
the Lord, who is infinitely wise and knoweth the end 
from the beginning, was preparing us for the uncom- 
mon dispensation of the Spirit, which we looked not 
for." 

About the same time there were similar encour- 
aging preparations at Cambuslang. Mr. McCulloch 
the pastor, for nearly a twelvemonth before the work 
began, had been preaching on those subjects which 
tend most directly to explain the nature and prove 
the necessity of regeneration. This was the state of 
things in the spring and summer of 1741. The revi- 
val which followed in Cambuslang, and spread wide- 
ly over that part of Scotland, was as life from the 
dead to the churches. It was unmistakably com- 
menced and carried on by the mighty power of God ; 
and many, both old and young, of all classes, were 
added to the Lord. The narrative before me is so 
deeply interesting and instructive, that I would glad- 
ly enrich my historical sketches with copious extracts, 
but want of space forbids. I have only room to say 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— SCOTLAND. 51 

that the glorious work in its progress exhibited all 
the leading scriptural characteristics of revivals be- 
fore and since, under the faithful preaching of the 
doctrines of grace set home upon the hearts of men 
by the Holy Spirit, who worketh all things according 
to the counsel of his own will. 

As every tree is known by its fruits, so is every 
revival. We naturally and properly inquire, What 
are its fruits? So in this case. What were the 
fruits of the great revival just glanced at in Scotland? 
Mr. Macfarlan's History contains this testimony from 
Rev. Mr. McCulloch, the faithful pastor at Cambus- 
lang, which I have much condensed : 

"First, all the persevering subjects of the work 
agree in professing faith in Christ as the Mediator, 
through whom alone we can come to God the Father, 
through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit; 
and secondly, there is evidence that in their walk 
and conversation they adorned their Christian pro- 
fession. They have from that time till now, or till 
the time of their death, behaved as became their 
Christian profession, with such exceptions as must 
always be made in judging of imperfect creatures. 
But besides this general statement, the following par- 
ticulars are submitted, either on my own personal 
knowledge, or good and credible information. 

" They adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour, 
glorify their heavenly Father, and excite others to do 
so on their account, by practising justice and charity, 
relative duties, public spiritedness, humility, meek- 
ness, patience, close and diligent attendance on gos- 
pel ordinances, heavenly-mindedness, watchfulness 



52 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

against sin, especially against such sin as easily beset3 
them. 

"Such as were given to cursing and swearing 
have laid aside the practice, learning to speak the 
language of heaven, having upon them a holy awe of 
God and of things divine. Such as were accustomed 
to frequent taverns, to drink, and play at cards, etc., 
till late, or it may be morning hours, have for nine 
years past avoided all occasions of the kind, and kept 
at home, spending their evenings in Christian con- 
ference, in matters profitable to their families, and 
in secret and family devotion. He who was former- 
ly drunken, accustomed to lie in bed till eight or 
nine o'clock in the morning, sleeping off his night's 
intoxication, has for these nine years been in the 
habit of getting up at three or four o'clock in the 
morning, of reading his Bible and other good books, 
of being engaged in prayer or meditation, till seven 
or eight, when he calls together his household for 
family devotion, which is again repeated in the even- 
ing. 

"Those who were formerly covetous and selfish, 
have acquired much of public spirit and of concern 
for the kingdom and glory of Christ, especially in 
the salvation of sinners ; and with this view they are 
not only exemplary in their conduct, but useful to all 
within their reach. They contribute cheerfully, and 
some of them beyond their ability, at collections for 
the interests of religion or the relief of the distressed. 
They carefully observe seasons fixed for the concert 
for prayer, and join in earnest supplication for the 
further spread of the gospel and the outpouring of 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— SCOTLAND. 53 

the Spirit on the churches. ' As new-born babes, they 
desire the sincere milk of the word, that they may 
grow thereby ;•' nocking with eagerness to hear in their 
different localities. The weekly lecture on Thursday, 
which was established in this place in 1742, has been 
continued ever since, summer and winter, even in har- 
vest, when the reapers come running from the fields, 
where they have been toiling all day. They are care- 
ful in their preparations for the Lord's supper, and 
frequent in the observance. These have been indeed 
remarkable times of communion with God. This 
people have seen the goings of their God and King in 
the sanctuary. They have been made to sit under 
Christ's shadow with great delight, and his fruit has 
been sweet to their taste. They have been feasted 
in the banqueting-house, and his banner over them 
has been love. 

" To conclude, they abound much in prayer, 
both secret and domestic, and also in the observance 
of fellowship meetings. In every town or village 
almost in this country side, where there is any com- 
petent number of serious and lively Christians, and 
where religion is in a thriving state, many private 
meetings are held. Common tradesmen, who are 
members and who work for so much a day, allow 
their employers to deduct so much from the time they 
are absent. Some of these meetings besides have 
also special seasons for fasting and prayer on extra- 
ordinary occasions, such, for example, as on receiving 
news of heavy losses, or dangers occurring to any of 
themselves, or of what threatens the interests of relig- 
ion ; and on these occasions they enjoy much of the 



54 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

divine presence, though less, alas, than in former 
times. 

" Now to Him who is able to keep us from falling, 
and to present us faultless before the presence of his 
glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our 
Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, 
both now and for ever. Amen." 

To this was added the following attestation, signed 
by the elders of the church : 

" We the undersigned, elders and members of the 
kirk session of Cambuslang, having heard the fore- 
going read to us by our pastor, and having maturely 
considered the same, paragraph by paragraph, do 
hereby make it our own, being persuaded that it con- 
tains a just and true account of the extraordinary 
work here in 1742, and of the comfortable and abid- 
ing effects of it on many, probably on more than four 
hundred, mentioned in the foregoing attestation, and 
particularly as regards those who lived in this parish 
until 1742, and from that time dow,n, or till their 
death, who lived, to the best of our knowledge, as 
becomes their profession." 

The foregoing is but a hasty glance at the glo- 
rious revival which descended from the opening 
heavens upon Scotland, which arrested the alarm- 
ing progress of infidelity and ungodliness, turned 
back the captivity of scores of churches that might 
have remained in bondage even until now* and re- 
stored to life the doctrines of the Keformation, of 
which John Knox was the exponent and the powerful 
advocate. Perhaps no work in Scotland has borne 
richer fruits than this of the eighteenth century, in 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— ENGLAND. 55 

which Mr. McCulloch, Whitefield, Kobe, Bonar, Ham- 
ilton, McKnight, Gillies, Alexander, Anderson, and 
others of kindred spirit, bore a conspicuous part. 

ENGLAND AND WALES. 

Eeturning now to England and Wales, we re- 
call the lamentations of such men as Hutchinson and 
Burnet and Watts and Seeker and Butler over the 
alarming prevalence of infidelity, ignorance, and im- 
morality throughout the United Kingdom in the ear- 
lier part of the eighteenth century. To human view, 
the state of religion was more hopeless in England 
than in Scotland. The Established church scarcely 
had a name to live, save in her articles and liturgy, 
and religion in the dissenting churches was at a very 
low ebb. It was evident that nothing short of some 
special interposition by the great Head of the church 
could restore the fallen interests of Zion. 

But man's extremity is God's opportunity, and 
such an interposition was at hand. God had been 
raising up three young men in the university of Ox- 
ford, the two brothers John and Charles Wesley, and 
George Whitefield, to commence and carry on the 
work. He prepared them for it by long and sharp 
personal convictions of their own lost estate; and 
that they might endure hardness as good soldiers of 
Jesus Christ, by subjecting them to the fiery ordeal 
of scorn and persecution in the . university, and as 
they were almost hopelessly feeling their way into 
the ministry, after they left it. It was in Oxford that 
they and the few others who sympathized with them 
were contemptuously called Methodists by their un- 



56 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

godly fellow-students, little thinking that they were 
giving an honorable name to one of the largest de- 
nominations in England and America. 

As the university was their Alma Mater, so was 
the Established church of their native land. They 
were strongly attached to her ecclesiastical polity, to 
her liturgy, to her forms and ceremonies, and had 
not the most distant thought of leaving her com- 
munion. They preached in her churches till they 
were driven out into the open fields as deluded schis- 
matics ; and they clung to the Establishment through 
evil report as long as they could, the Wesleys as 
long as they lived. They never formally broke off 
their connection, though they were forced by persecu- 
tion to avail themselves of that liberty wherewith 
Christ had made them free, to turn as many as possi- 
ble to the Lord, whether within or without the pale 
of the Established church. 

As the reformation advanced, God raised up 
Fletcher and Romaine and Madan and Berridge and 
Shirley and Benson and Howel Harris and others, 
to take part with them in their itinerant ministry ; 
and so rapidly did the work spread, that, "or ever 
they were aware," the converts had so greatly multi- 
plied outside of the Establishment as to demand an 
organization of some sort. Wesley could not resist 
the pressure. The thousands were liable to be scat- 
tered as sheep without a shepherd. They must be 
taken . care of, or the roaring lion would come and 
devour them ; and though he would not, even in that 
extremity, form a new denomination, he organized 
them under what was called the Methodist Connec- 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— ENGLAND. 57 

Hon, " so mightily did the word of God grow and 
prevail." 

The history of this remarkable era of revivals 
which commenced about 1740, and spread so widely 
over England, Wales, and Ireland, is so fully record- 
ed in the lives and writings of Whitefield, Wesley, 
Lady Huntingdon, and others, that it is needless for 
me to descend to particulars. 

That there was intermingled with this work much 
of animal excitement among the thousands upon thou- 
sands who hung upon the lips of Whitefield and the 
Wesleys in Moorfields, on Kensington common, and 
other out-door stations, and who sometimes rent the 
air with their sobs and outcries, and that the preach- 
ers looked upon these impassioned demonstrations 
with too much allowance, there is no room to ques- 
tion; nor, on the other hand, can any but sceptics 
doubt that " the power of the Highest " was there, by 
which multitudes were arrested, convicted, and truly 
converted. 

Mysterious and trying as was the opposition these 
distinguished preachers received from the Established 
church of that day, I think we can see the wisdom 
and goodness of God in permitting it. Had it come 
entirely from without, the leaven could scarcely have 
been infused into the great lump, where it was so 
much needed. As the first great revival preachers 
were churchmen, and labored within the pale of the 
church wherever they could get an opportunity, the 
truth found an entrance where the doors would other- 
wise have remained closed. Some of the clergy were 
raised from their moral depression, and gained over 



58 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 



to "the faith once delivered to the saints," and be 
came zealous preachers in their own parishes. The 
evangelical element was thus infused into the churches 
of the Establishment, or if it were already there, was 
quickened into life, where it had long been petrified 
by formalism. How much the large class of evan- 
gelical churches of the Establishment in the British 
isles are indebted to the blessed influence of that 
"great awakening/' it were impossible to say; but 
that there is now much more of the power of godli- 
ness, of vital, active piety in the English church than 
there would otherwise have been, I think all will 
agree who candidly study the religious history of 
that eventful period, and trace the growing evangel- 
ism of that church down to the present time. The 
good seed which was then sown has been springing 
up and bearing fruit, more or less, ever since. 

The Independents too, of different sects, who did 
not fall in with the Methodists, shared in the bless- 
ing, and some of their ablest preachers were active 
in promoting the revival. All in all, it was a glori- 
ous ingathering of souls to Christ, though much was 
lost for want of able stationary pastors to bring the 
converts into regularly organized churches, and by a 
pious watch and care build them up in the most holy 
faith. This Whitefield and the other evangelists 
could not do, as they went on from place to place, 
crying, like John in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the 
way of the Lord." 

The chief apostles of that reformation had differ- 
ent gifts, and did not harmonize exactly in all their 
theological speculations ; but the same spirit animat- 






EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— ENGLAND. 59 

ed them and dwelt in them. Their grand and all- 
absorbing aim was to win souls to Christ. The dif- 
ferences between Whitefield and the Wesleys at one 
time threatened to create a lasting alienation ; but 
mutual forbearance and charity reconciled them. 
They found they had no time to dispute while sinners 
whom they might hope to save were perishing. They 
labored and prayed together as before ; their personal 
friendship was, if possible, more closely cemented, as 
they went on sowing the good seed over the same 
fields. Essentially they were of one heart and one 
mind, till death came and took them up to that bright- 
er world, where it is impossible not to see eye to eye, 
or to fall into any mistakes. Whitefield preached 
the offers of a free salvation to all, without distinc- 
tion or exception, as earnestly as it was possible for 
Wesley to do. So Wesley, in his prayers, rejoiced to 
exalt God on the throne, and magnify his grace ; and 
I never heard a Methodist pray in a revival who did 
not. Indeed, how can any body pray that the uncon- 
verted may be born again, without first believing that 
they are dead in trespasses and sins; and in this 
view of their lost condition, invoking the Holy Spirit 
to come down in his sovereign and mighty power to 
awaken, renew, and sanctify them? 

So long as the number of converts was compara- 
tively small, and some of the churches of the Estab- 
lishment yet opened their doors to the revival preach- 
ers, the necessity of outside chapels was not very 
urgent, especially as there was so much field preach- 
ing to the thousands without, whom the Lord stirred 
up to press eagerly around the stands, inquiring what 



60 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

they must do to be saved. But as the revival spread 
on every hand, and great numbers of converts needed 
to be gathered into societies for regular instruction 
and oversight, the want was severely felt. 

But the mass of the converts were poor, and how 
were the chapels to be built? Who would furnish 
the means ? Anticipating the growing necessity, the 
great Head of the church had been raising up help in 
high quarters, from which the necessary aid could 
hardly have been expected. 

And just here I have been forcibly struck with 
the remarkable coincidence between this state of 
things and what we read of the first great revival 
period, in the Acts of the Apostles. God then raised 
up helpers from the higher classes, without whose aid 
the thousands of converts, being mostly poor and sore- 
ly persecuted, could scarcely have subsisted. Thus, 
when Paul and Silas passed over from Troas into 
Macedonia, and came to Philippi, they found there a 
certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from 
Thyatira, whose heart the Lord opened, that she 
attended to the things which were spoken of Paul, 
and she constrained them to come into her house to 
abide, which they did as long as their mission would 
allow them to stay. Her traffic had probably made 
her rich. Still more striking is the record in the 
next chapter. When Paul and Silas went down to 
Berea and preached the gospel in that city, many of 
the Jews received the word with all readiness of 
mind ; also of " honorable women," who were Greeks, 
and of men not a few. These women are here called 
honorable, as belonging to the higher classes, who 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— ENGLAND. 61 

having both the disposition and the means, encouraged 
and helped the missionaries to go on with their work, 
when other resources must have failed. 

So here, in this great revival, God raised up hon- 
orable women just when they were most needed to help 
the preachers, and provide places of worship for those 
who were too poor to do it themselves. Several of 
their names are mentioned, as Anne and Frances Has- 
tings, Lady Mary Hamilton, Lady Gertrude Hotham 
and Countess Delitz, sisters of Lady Chesterfield, 
Lady Chesterfield herself, Lady Fanny Shirley, and 
others of the aristocracy, who established the first 
female prayer-meeting that I remember to have seen 
noticed anywhere. Though all connected with the 
Established church, they looked with great favor upon 
the wonderful reformation that was going on among 
the hitherto uncared-for masses outside, and cheer- 
fully contributed, more or less, to help build them 
chapels, in parts where they were most needed. 

Thus many daughters did virtuously, but there 
was one that excelled them all. This was that re- 
markable " elect lady," the Countess of Huntingdon, 
who was remotely related to the royal family, and 
who moved in the highest circles. Amid all the 
allurements and fascinating worldly prospects of her 
exalted rank, God arrested her by an alarming sick- 
ness, brought her to renounce all for Christ at the 
foot of his cross, and brought her into fellowship 
with his despised and persecuted disciples, of whom 
the world was not worthy. While in her doctrinal 
belief she sympathized strongly with Whitefield her 
favorite preacher, she welcomed to her house all the 



62 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

prominent preachers of the other branch of the Con- 
nection of whom Wesley was the leader ; and deem- 
ed it an honor to number Dr. Watts, Dr. Doddridge, 
and other dissenting ministers of the day, among the 
warmest of her friends in the household of faith. 
Time would fail me to reckon up her munificent char- 
ities for building chapels, and supporting the brother- 
hood in their self-denying labors to win souls to Christ ; 
to speak of her boundless hospitality at home; to fol- 
low her as she " went about doing good," and in her 
shining upward progress towards the saints' everlast- 
ing rest. Considering her moderate income, her con- 
tributions, after the death of her husband, for relig- 
ious and charitable purposes, were almost incredible. 
They were estimated to have amounted to at least 
$500,000. 

Thus did that illustrious lady the Countess of 
Huntingdon go on from strength to strength, serving 
God and her generation by the will of God, till, ripen- 
ed for the inheritance of the saints in light, she, at the 
advanced age of eighty-four, rested from her labors, 
and her works followed her. For what she was and 
what she did, the reader is referred to the volume 
entitled, " Lady Huntington and her Friends," pub- 
lished by the American Tract Society, to Isaac Tay- 
lor's History of Methodism, and other religious histo- 
ries of the times. She was certainly one of the most 
remarkable women of that or any age. Her name 
will be had in everlasting remembrance. We can 
hardly see how Whitefield and Wesley and the other 
prominent leaders in that religious movement would 
have carried on the work as they did, without her 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 63 

pecuniary assistance and other efficient aid. Certain 
it is, that in all subsequent ages her name will be 
associated with those of the most illustrious reform- 
ers of that extraordinary revival epoch. And who 
can doubt that when she died, she ascended to join 
those holy women of old, whose memorial stands 
upon the sacred record, in their eternal services and 
songs ? 

THE UNITED STATES. 

Leaving the fatherland and crossing the ocean, we 
proceed to inquire what was the state of religion in 
the American churches previous to the " Great 
Awakening/ 7 at which we have just glanced in the 
mother country. Certainly, when that remarkable 
revival commenced, the churches had not sunk so low 
here as there. From the beginning of the century, 
we find there had been isolated revivals here and 
there. There were verdant inclosures in the vine- 
yard, while also the drought was wide and sore. 

The Rev. Mr. Danforth of Taunton, Massachusetts, 
wrote, in 1704-5, " We are much encouraged by a uni- 
versal and amazing impression made by the Spirit of 
God on all sorts among us, especially on the young 
men and women. It is almost incredible how many 
visit me with discoveries of extreme distress of mind 
they are in about their spiritual condition. The 
young men, instead of their merry meetings, are now 
forming themselves into regular meetings for prayer, 
repetition of sermons, and singing. The profanest 
among us seem startled at the sudden change upon 
the rising generation. We need much prayer that 



64 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

these strivings of the Spirit may have a saving issue 
and effect." 

Again he writes, " My time is spent in daily dis- 
course with the young people visiting me with their 
doubts, fears, and agonies. Religion flourishes to 
amazement and admiration, that so we should be at 
once touched with soul affliction, and this in all cor- 
ners of the place. But I hope that the deeper the 
wound, the more sound may be the cure. I have 
little time to think of worldly matters, scarce time to 
study sermons as I used to do ; but find God can bless 
mean preparations whenever he pleases that such shall 
be most cried up and commended which I have had 
scarce time to methodize. I sometimes think that the 
time of the pouring out of the Spirit upon all flesh may 
be at the door." 

President Edwards mentions revivals in North- 
ampton in 1712 and 1718, under the ministry of his 
predecessor Eev. Mr. Stoddard. In the year 1721, 
there was a remarkable revival in Windham, Con- 
necticut. In 1730 and the three following years, 
there was a considerable revival in Freehold, New 
Jersey, under the ministry of the two Tennents, John 
and William ; and other places might be mentioned. 

Nevertheless there had been, in the early part of 
the century, a great falling away, which we find griev- 
ously lamented by pious ministers, who remembered 
those better days when the candle of the Lord shone 
upon the churches planted by the Puritan fathers. 

Dr. Increase Mather, in a book entitled, "The 
Glory departing from New England," printed in 
1702, says, " We are the posterity of the good old 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 65 

Puritan Non-conformists in England, who were a strict 
and holy people. Such were our fathers who followed 
the Lord into this wilderness. New England, New 
England, look to it that the glory be not removed 
from thee, for it begins to go. tremble, for it is 
going ; it is gradually departing. You that are aged 
persons, that can remember what New England was 
fifty years ago, that saw the churches in their first 
glory, is there not a sad decay and diminution of that 
glory? Time was when these churches were 'beau- 
tiful as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an 
army with banners.' What a glorious presence of 
Christ was there in all his ordinances. Many were 
converted, and there were added to the churches daily 
such as should be saved. But are not sound conver- 
sions become rare in this day, and in many congrega- 
tions? Look into the pulpits, and see if there is such 
a glory there as once there was. When will Boston 
see a Cotton and a Norton again ? When will New 
England see a Hooker, a Shepard, a Mitchell, not to 
mention others? 

"Look into our civil state; does Christ reign 
there as once he did ? How many churches, how many 
towns are there in New England that we may sigh 
over them and say, the glory is gone ! And there is 
sad cause to fear that greater departures of the glory 
are hastening upon us; our iniquities testify against 
us, and our backslidings are many. That there is a 
general defection from primitive purity and piety in 
many respects, cannot be denied. The providence of 
God is threatening to pull down the wall which was 
a defence to these churches." 



66 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Again he writes in 1721, "I am now in the eighty- 
third year of my age, and having had an opportunity 
to converse with the first planters of this country, 
and having been for sixty-five years a preacher of the 
gospel, I cannot but be in the disposition of those 
ancient men who had seen the foundation of the first 
house, and wept with a loud voice to see what a 
change the work of the temple had upon it. The 
children of New England are, or once were, for the 
most part, the children of godly men. What did our 
fathers come into this wilderness for? Not to gain 
estates as men do now, but for religion, and that they 
might leave their children in a hopeful way of being 
truly religious. There was a famous man that preached 
before one of the greatest assemblies that ever was 
preached unto seventy years ago, and he told them, ■ I 
have lived in a country seven years, and all that time 
I never heard one profane oath, and all that time I 
never did see a man drunk in that land.' Where was 
that country ? It was New England ; but Oh, degen- 
erate New England, what art thou come to at this 
day! How are those sins become common in thee 
that once were not so much as heard of in this land I" 

In a public lecture printed in 1706, Dr. Cotton 
Mather says, "It is confessed by all who know any 
thing of the matter — and Oh, why not with rivers of 
tears bewailed ? — that there is a general and a horrible 
decay of Christianity among the professors of it. The 
glorious and precious religion of our heavenly Christ 
generally appears with quite another face in the lives 
of Christians of this day, than what it had in the 
lives of the saints into whose hands it was first of all 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 61 

delivered. The modern Christianity is but too gen- 
erally but a very shadow of the ancient." 

The Rev. Thomas Prince of Boston, in a sermon 
delivered before the General Assembly of the prov- 
ince of Massachusetts, May 27, 1730, states as his de- 
sign to "commemorate the righteous and wonderful 
works of God towards us, both in our own days and 
in the days of our fathers," and thus proceeds : " Who 
were our fathers, and what were their distinguishing 
characters ? The generality of them were the near 
descendants of the first reformers in England. They 
were born of pious parents, who brought them up in 
a course of strict religion under the most awakening 
preachers of those days. Under such means they 
became inspired with a spirit of piety, and with a 
growing zeal to reform the worship of God to the 
most beautiful and perfect model of his own insti- 
tutions. 

"And to the great glory of God be it spoken, 
there never was perhaps before seen such a body of 
pious people together on the face of the earth. Their 
civil and ecclesiastical leaders were exemplary pat- 
terns of piety. They encouraged only the virtuous 
to come with and follow them. They were so strict, 
both in the church and the state, that the incorrigible 
could not endure to live in the country, and went 
back again. Profane swearers and drunkards were 
not known in the land. And it quickly grew so 
famous for religion abroad, that scarce any other but 
those who liked it came over for many years after." 

The Rev. Samuel Blair, speaking of the state of 
religion in Pennsylvania, says, " True religion lay as 



68 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

it were adying and ready to expire its last breath of 
life, in this part of the visible church, in the spring of 
1740, when the God of salvation was pleased to visit 
us with the blessed effusions of the Holy Spirit. I 
doubt not that then there were some sincerely relig- 
ious people up and down. But a very lamentable 
ignorance of the essentials of true practical religion, 
and of the doctrines relating thereto, very generally 
prevailed. The nature and necessity of the new birth 
were little known, or of the Holy Spirit opening and 
applying the law to the conscience, in order to sav- 
ing closure with Christ. The common notion seemed 
to be, that if people were aiming to be in the way of 
duty as well as they could, they imagined there was 
no reason to be much afraid." 

These lamentations over the degeneracy of the 
times must certainly be taken with some abatements 
from what a comparison between other periods in the 
history of the American churches would require. 
The primitive standard of morals and piety in the 
first and second generations starting from Plymouth 
rock was so high, that the declension over which 
the fathers mourned seemed to them to have brought 
religion to a lower ebb than it would have otherwise 
appeared. No wonder they were alarmed. No won- 
der they lifted up their voices like a trumpet. There 
was "a cause" before their eyes. They had seen 
those better days, and felt that if God did not soon 
appear and revive his work, all would be lost. 

Among the causes which led to this lax and down- 
ward tendency of the churches, was the introduction 
of the so-called " Half-way Covenant." It crept in 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 69 

gradually at first, but erelong spread widely over 
New England. It was intended to open the door for 
parents who were not members of the churches, and 
who made no pretensions to personal piety, to bring 
their children for baptism. The substance of it was, 
a general confession of faith in the truth and inspira- 
tion of the Scriptures, and a promise to "come up to 
the Lord's supper as soon as they should see their way 
clear," which most of them never did. Hence the 
name, " Half-way Covenant." This system was intro- 
duced as early as 1662. The consequence was, that 
the membership of the churches in full communion 
rapidly decreased. Having got their children bap- 
tized, few of the parents came into full communion, 
and hardly any of the unmarried were found at the 
Lord's table. 

To keep the churches full, the next departure from 
the Puritan organization was to hold up the Lord's 
supper as a converting ordinance, and thus to throw the 
door wide open for the entrance of the unconverted. 
The Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northampton, with the 
best intentions no doubt, in a sermon published in 
1707, maintained that " sanctification is not a neces- 
sary qualification for partaking of the Lord's supper, 
and that it is a converting ordinance.' 7 Dr. Increase 
Mather published an able reply to this sermon j but 
the principles of Mr. Stoddard were adopted by the 
church in Northampton, and soon in other parts of 
New England. 

I have dwelt the longer on the period preceding 
the Great Awakening to show what formidable ob- 
stacles had accumulated in the way of a revival. 



10 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Nothing strange was the opposition which it had to 
encounter from the pulpit and the press ; but strange 
indeed it would have been, if, in the progress of that 
remarkable revival, with such hostile antecedents, 
there had been nothing mixed with it to be regretted 
by its warmest friends and advocates. 

It would be easy to fill more than one large vol- 
ume with the narratives and records in various forms 
of that ever memorable revival in the American 
churches. It was almost as life from the dead, so 
deep was the spiritual apathy in which it found them. 
But my notice must be extremely brief, and indeed 
that is all which seems to be called for, since the prog- 
gress of the work was so largely and faithfully chron- 
icled at the time in Prince's History, Gillies' Histor- 
ical Collections, Edwards' Thoughts on the Revival 
of Religion in New England, published by the Amer- 
ican Tract Society, and " The Great Awakening," an 
octavo volume by the Rev. Joseph Tracy, of which a 
new edition has just been issued. 

The more prominent agents whom the great Head 
of the church employed in carrying on that glorious 
work on this side of the Atlantic, were Mr. Edwards, 
Mr. Whitefield, Dr. Bellamy, the two Tennents, Will- 
iam and Gilbert, President Davies, Mr. Blair, and 
Mr. Parsons. Scores of other good ministers cooper- 
ated with them or labored successfully without them 
in their respective parishes, though some of the pas- 
tors doubted whereunto it would grow, and stood 
aloof. 

Small space as I can spare for this revival, which 
arrested the deplorable backslidings of the churches, 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 71 

I feel bound to magnify the grace of God by borrow- 
ing some brief extracts from the copious narratives 
to which I have just alluded. 

As the first revival took place under the preach- 
ing of Mr. Edwards, and as he stood at the head of 
the most able defenders of that mighty work of the 
Spirit, and was one of the most judicious and success- 
ful laborers both at home and abroad, I shall first 
make condensed extracts from his "Narrative of the 
Revival in Northampton, in 1734," as a fair exam- 
ple of the character of the remarkable series which 
followed and spread so widely over the land. 

" Just after my grandfather's death, it was a time 
of remarkable dulness in religion. Many of the youth 
were much addicted to night-walking, frequenting the 
tavern, and lewd practices. They would often spend 
the greater part of the night in frolics, without regard 
to any order in the families they belonged to ; and 
indeed family government did too much fail in the 
town. 

"But in two or three years after Mr. Stoddard's 
death, there began to be a sensible amendment. The 
young people by degrees left off their frolicking, and 
thenceforward there was a remarkable reformation 
among them. In the month of April, 1734, there 
happened a very sudden and awful death of a young 
man in the bloom of youth, and the sermon which was 
preached on that occasion very much affected many 
of the young. This was followed by the death of a 
young married woman. In the beginning of her ill- 
ness she was greatly distressed about the salvation of 
her soul, but seemed to obtain satisfactory evidence 



72 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

of God's saving mercy before she died, and in a most 
earnest and moving manner counselled and warned 
others. This seemed much to affect many young per- 
sons, and increased the religious concern on people's 
minds. 

"It was in the latter part of December that the 
Spirit of God began extraordinarily to act in and 
wonderfully to work among us. Very suddenly five 
or six persons, one after another, were to all appear- 
ance savingly converted, some of them in a very re- 
markable manner. Presently a great and earnest con- 
cern became universal in all parts of the town among 
persons of all ages. The noise among the dry bones 
waxed louder and louder. All the conversation in 
all companies was upon spiritual things, except so 
much as was necessary for ordinary secular business. 
Men seemed to follow their business more as a part 
of their duty than from any disposition to it. Relig- 
ion was with all sorts the great concern. It was then 
a dreadful thing among us to lie out of Christ, in 
danger every day of dropping into hell. All would 
eagerly lay hold of opportunities for their souls, and 
very often met together in private houses for relig- 
ious purposes. There was scarcely a person in town, 
young or old, that was left unconcerned about the 
great things of the eternal world. 

" Those that had been disposed to think and speak 
lightly of religion, were now generally subject to 
great awakenings. The work of conversion was car- 
ried on in the most astonishing manner. Souls did, 
as it were, come by flocks to Jesus Christ. 

" From day to day for many months might be seen 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 13 

evident instances of sinners being brought out of 
darkness into marvellous light. It made such a glo- 
rious alteration in the town, that in the following 
spring and summer, 1735, the town seemed to be full 
of the presence of God. It was so in almost every 
house. Our public assemblies were then beautiful. 
The congregation was alive in God's service, and 
every hearer eager to drink in the words of the min- 
ister. The assembly were in general from time to 
time in tears, some weeping with sorrow and distress, 
others with joy and love ; others with pity and con- 
cern for the souls of their neighbors. Our young peo- 
ple, when they met, were wont to talk of the dying 
love of Jesus Christ and the glorious way of salva- 
tion, the wonderful free and sovereign grace of God, 
and his glorious work in the conversion of souls. 
Those among us who had been formerly converted, 
were greatly enlivened with fresh and extraordinary 
incomes of the Spirit of God. 

" This dispensation has also appeared very extra- 
ordinary in the numbers of those on whom we have 
reason to hope it has had a saving effect. We have 
about six hundred and twenty communicants, which 
include almost all our adult persons. I am far from 
pretending to determine how many have been the sub- 
jects of such mercy, but I hope that more than three 
hundred were brought home to Christ in this town in 
the space of half a year, and about the same number 
of males as females.* I hope that by far the greater 
part of persons in this town over sixteen years of age 

* The population of the town was then about eleven hun- 
dred. 

Rev. Sketches. A 



74 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

are such as have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ ; 
and so, by what I have heard, I suppose it is in some 
other places, particularly at Sunderland and South 
Hadley. 

" This has also appeared a very extraordinary dis- 
pensation, in that -the Spirit of God has so much ex- 
tended not only his awakening but his regenerating 
influences, both to elderly persons and also to those 
that are very young. It has been a thing heretofore 
scarcely to be heard of, that any were converted past 
middle age. But now we have as much reason to 
think that many such have been changed, as that 
others have been in more early years. 

"It has heretofore been looked upon as a 
strange thing, when any have seemed to be savingly 
wrought upon and remarkably changed in their 
childhood ; but now I suppose that near thirty were, 
to appearance, between ten and fourteen years of 
age, two between nine and ten, and one of about four 
years. 

" God has also seemed to have gone out of his 
usual way in the quickness of his work, and the swift 
progress his Spirit has made in his operations on the 
hearts of many. Many have been taken from a loose 
and careless way of living, and seized with strong 
convictions of their guilt and misery, and in a very 
little time ' all things have become new ' with them. 
God's work has also appeared very extraordinary, 
in the degree of saving light and love and joy that 
many have experienced, and in the extent of it, being 
so swiftly propagated from town to town. In former 
times of the pouring out of the Spirit of God upon 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 75 

this town, though in some of them it was very remark- 
able, it reached no further. 

" The work of God seemed to be at its greatest 
height here in March and April, at which time God's 
work in the conversion of souls was carried on in so 
wonderful a manner, that so far as I can judge, from 
what I have witnessed in the progress of this work, 
conversions have been at the rate at least of four per- 
sons in a day, or near thirty in a week, take one week 
with another, for five or six weeks together. When 
God so remarkably took the work into his own hands, 
there was as much done in a day or two as, in ordi- 
nary times, with all endeavors that men can use, and 
with such a blessing as men commonly have, in a 
year." 

Then follow brief notices of the work in many 
other towns, as South Hadley, Sunderland, Deerfield, 
Hatfield, West Springfield, Westfield, Hadley, North- 
field, and other places, marked by the same unmis- 
takable evidences of the Divine presence, though with 
" diversities of operations, according to His pleasure 
who worketh all things according to the counsel of 
his own will." Among the places specially visited in 
Connecticut, were East Windsor, Coventry, Lebanon, 
Stratford, Durham, New Haven, Guilford, Mansfield, 
Tolland, Hebron, Bolton, Preston, and Woodbury. 

And so far was that glorious work, which lasted 
several years, and was at its height about 1740, from 
being confined to New England, that it was equally 
powerful in many parts of New Jersey and Pennsyl- 
vania. New York too shared in the blessing, beyond 
which there was no West then, and the same Spirit 



76 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

wrought powerfully in some parts of the southern 
states, particularly in Delaware, Virginia, and South 
Carolina. To all human appearance, it was the salva- 
tion of the church from an irrecoverable departure 
from the faith once delivered to the saints. It was as 
if the Saviour had said to his desponding disciples, 
"Be not faithless, but believing, and ye shall see 
greater things than these." 

We have already seen that the Rev. George 
Whitefield was one of the most zealous and success- 
ful preachers of that day. I cannot follow him 
through his marvellous mission, having the everlast- 
ing gospel to preach wherever he went. It would 
require a volume. I am happy that the American 
Tract Society have published his life, in a volume of 
five hundred pages. But it has seemed to me I could 
not do less, in justice to him and to " the grace of God 
which was in him," than to glance for a moment at 
what he was and what he did. 

It is questionable whether any preacher since the 
days of the apostles has done so much, in a degener- 
ate age, to rouse the churches, and "turn back their 
captivity" from dead formalism, latitudinarian indif- 
ference, and erroneous proclivities, and to bring them 
into the old paths in which their Puritan fathers 
walked, both on this side and beyond the sea. From 
the commencement of his extraordinary career, like 
a naming seraph as it were, he passed from city to 
city, and from land to land, having the everlasting 
gospel to preach ; attracting the gaze of thousands 
wherever he went, swaying uncounted multitudes by 
his fervid and matchless eloquence, and beyond all 



EIGHTEENTH CENT CJRY— AMERICA. 71 

per adventure, bringing great numbers, on both sides 
of the ocean, to the foot of the cross. 

Of Jonathan Edwards, his compeer, and much 
more in the depths of theological science, it may be 
said that, in his great sermon on Justification by Faith 
alone, he struck the key-note of the songs of new-born 
souls in that revival. 

Restricted as my limits are, I must not omit to 
add a paragraph or two, from a letter of the Rev. 
Thomas Prince, Jr., touching that great awakening 
in Boston. 

" Great numbers in this town were so happily con- 
cerned about their souls, as we had never seen any 
thing like it before. Our assemblies, both on lectures 
and Sabbaths, were surprisingly increased. 

" After Mr. Whitefield left, the Rev. Gilbert Ten- 
nent came, and he seemed to have as deep an ac- 
quaintance with the experimental part of religion, as 
any I ever conversed with, and his preaching was as 
rousing and searching as I ever heard. He aimed 
directly at the hearts and consciences of his hearers. 
His aim was to lay open the delusions of sinners, and 
show them their numerous hypocritical shifts, and 
drive them out of every deceitful refuge. From the 
terrible convictions he had passed through in his own 
soul, he had such a lively view of the divine Majesty, 
and of the strictness, spirituality, extent, and justice 
of his law, that the terrors of God seemed to rise 
fresh in his mind, when he displayed and brandished 
them in the eyes of unreconciled sinners. 

"I do not recollect any crying out, or falling 
down, or fainting, either under Mr. Whitefield's or 



78 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Mr. Tennent's preaching ; and though terrible preach- 
ing may strongly work on the animal passions, and 
frighten the hearers, rouse the soul, and prepare the 
way for terrible convictions, yet those mere animal 
terrors are quite different things from such convic- 
tions as were wrought in many hundreds by Mr. Ten- 
nent's searching ministry ; and such was the case of 
those many scores, in several of the congregations 
as well as mine, who came to me and others for direc- 
tion under them. It was such a time as we never 
knew. Mr. Cooper was wont to say, that more came 
to him in one week, in deep concern about their souls, 
than in the whole twenty-four years of his preceding 
ministry. He had about six hundred different persons 
visit him in three months' time ; and Mr. "Webb in- 
forms me he has had, in the same space, above a thou- 
sand. Sometimes rising of sixty bills were put up at 
once, in public, by the awakened j and their cases rep- 
resented were, a blind mind, a vile and hard heart ; 
some under great temptations, some in concern for 
their souls ; some in great distress of mind for fear 
of being unconverted, others for fear they had been 
all along building on a righteousness of their own ; 
some for a long time, even for several months, under 
these convictions ; some fearing lest the Holy Spirit 
should withdraw ; others having quenched his opera- 
tions, were in great distress lest he should leave 
them for ever. 

"Within six months, to the end of January, 1741, 
there were scores joined to our communicants, the 
greater part of whom gave a particular account of 
the work of the Spirit of G-od on their souls and 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 79 

effectual calling, as is described in the Westminster 
Assembly's Shorter Catechism. Mr. Webb, senior 
pastor of the New North, informs me that of admissions 
to full communion of those hopefully wrought upon in 
this day of grace, about one hundred and sixty joined 
his church, of which one hundred and two joined from 
January, 1741, to 1742, and many more give good 
evidence of grace. In this year, 1741, the very face 
of the town seemed to be strangely altered. Some 
who had not been here since the fall before, have told 
me of their great surprise at the change in the gen- 
eral look and carriage of the people, as soon as they 
landed. One of our worthy gentlemen informed me 
that whereas, when he used with others on Saturday 
evening to visit the taverns in order to clear them of 
their town inhabitants, they were wont to find many 
there, and meet with much trouble to get them away, 
he now found them empty of all but lodgers. Thus 
successfully did the divine work go on in town, with- 
out any lisp, as I remember, of a separation, either in 
this town or province, for about a year and a half 
after Mr. Whitefield left us." 

I have exceedingly interesting accounts before me 
of nearly simultaneous revivals in Natick, Wrentham, 
Bridgewater, Plymouth, Sutton, Taunton, Middlebo- 
rough, Halifax, Reading, Gloucester, Northampton in 
1740, Raynham, Rochester, Cambridge, Plympton, 
and other places in Massachusetts • Westerley and 
Charlestown, in Rhode Island ; Portsmouth and New 
Castle, in New Hampshire ; Enfield, and other towns 
already mentioned by Mr. Edwards, in Connecticut ; 
Newark, Elizabethtown, and several other places in 



80 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

New Jersey ; Philadelphia, New Providence, Notting- 
ham, White Clay Creek, and Neshaminy, in Penn- 
sylvania. The revival also extended to Virginia, and 
was quite powerful in some of the counties of that 
ancient commonwealth. 

The labors of Rev. Mr. Frelinghuysen, who came 
over from Holland in 1720, were greatly blessed in 
New Jersey, especially among the Reformed Dutch 
churches. 

The Rev. Jonathan Dickinson of Elizabethtown, 
New Jersey, speaking of Elizabethtown and Newark, 
says, August 23, 1743, " In these towns religion was 
in a low state, and there was but little of the power 
of godliness among us till some time in August, 1739, 
when there was a remarkable revival in Newark. It 
was chiefly among the young people till the following 
March, when the whole town was brought under a 
common concern about their eternal interests ; and 
there is good reason to conclude that a considerable 
number experienced a saving change. The summer 
following this awakening was sensibly abated, till in 
February, 1741, they were again visited by the special 
effusions of the Holy Spirit, when a plain familiar ser- 
mon was set home with power. Many were brought 
to see and feel that till then they had no more than a 
name to live, and there seemed to be but very few in 
the whole congregation who were not moved more 
or less, though mostly among the rising generation. 
There is good reason to believe that there were now 
a greater number brought to Christ than in the former 
gracious visitation." 

Mr. Dickinson goes on to say that about the same 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 81 

time there was a powerful revival in Elizabethtown. 
" Under the preaching of the word, there was a sud- 
den and deep impression on the congregation. There 
was no crying out or falling down, as elsewhere hap- 
pened, but tears and sobbing in almost all parts of the 
assembly. There appeared such tokens of a solemn 
and deep concern as I never saw before in any con- 
gregation. All our opportunities for public worship 
were carefully attended. Numbers were almost daily 
repairing to me for direction and assistance in their 
eternal concerns." 

In another letter written by Mr. Dickinson about 
that time, he says, " I have still the comfortable news 
to inform you of, that there is yet a great revival of 
religion in these parts. I have had more young peo- 
ple address me for direction in their spiritual con- 
cerns in three months, than in thirty years before. 

" Though so many were brought under conviction at 
once, we had very little appearance among us of those 
irregular heats which are so loudly complained of in 
other parts of the land. This work was substantially 
the same in all the subjects of it. Though some were 
more distressed, and for a longer time than others, 
none obtained satisfying discoveries of safety in Christ 
till they were first brought to despair of help from 
themselves or any of their own refuges. 

" It is remarkable, that as this work began among 
us in a time of the greatest health and prosperity, so 
it began sensibly to wear off in a time of the greatest 
mortality that had ever been known in the town, 
which makes it appear more evidently to be the work 

of God himself. If we may judge the tree by the 

4* 



82 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

fruits which we have now had so long a time to ob- 
serve — three years or more — -we have reason to sup- 
pose that about sixty have received a saving change 
in this congregation." 

It was estimated that, at that time, the population 
of all the colonies was about 2,000,000 ; and it was 
believed that the number of converts amounted to 
not less ih&njifty thousand. If so, they bore as great 
a proportion to the whole number of inhabitants, and 
would as much change the relative proportion of the 
religious and irreligious, as the conversion of six hun- 
dred thousand would now. How many were hopefully 
born again, during the same revival in England, Scot- 
land, and Wales, I have no means of ascertaining. 
But it admits not of a doubt, that a great multitude 
were " turned to the Lord." It was a mighty and 
glorious work of the Holy Spirit, both here and there, 
such as had not been witnessed for ages. 

In looking back, it is exceedingly interesting to 
find a revival of the cardinal doctrines of the Ref- 
ormation, in the preaching of all the distinguished 
ministers under whom the work was carried on. 
However they might differ on some points, they 
" saw eye to eye," and " their testimony agreed to- 
gether" in every thing that was essential for bring- 
ing sinners to repentance, and building up the churches 
in the most holy faith. 

' Enemies there were to the truth, opposers there 
were to the revival, scattered all over the land ; min- 
isters there were who stood aloof from it, but the 
preaching was evangelical. "The subjects chiefly 
insisted on, were the sin and apostasy of mankind in 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 83 

Adam ; the blindness of the natural man in the things 
of God; the enmity of the carnal mind; the evil of 
sin; the desert of it, and the utter inability of the 
fallen creature to relieve itself; the sovereignty of 
God ; the way of redemption by Christ ; justification 
through his imputed righteousness received by faith ; 
this faith the gift of God, and a living principle that 
worketh by love ; the nature and necessity of regen- 
eration, and sanctification by the Holy Spirit; and 
that without holiness no man shall see the Lord." 

" The principal means of the great revival/' says 
the " Testimony " of a large number of pastors in 
eastern Massachusetts, printed and sent out to the 
churches in the summer of 1745, " were the more than 
ordinary preaching of the more important doctrines of 
Scripture : as these, namely, The all-seeing eye, purity, 
justice, truth, power, majesty, and sovereignty of God ; 
the spirituality, holiness, extent, and strictness of his 
law ; our original sin, guilt, depravity, and corruption 
by the fall, including a miserable ignorance of God 
and enmity against him ; our impotency and aversion 
to turn to him, the necessity that his law should be 
fulfilled, his justice satisfied, the honor of his holiness, 
authority, and truth, maintained in his conduct tow- 
ards us ; our utter impotence to help ourselves, and 
our continual hazard of being sent into endless mis- 
ery ; the astonishing displays of the absolute wisdom 
and grace of God, in contriving and providing for our 
redemption; the divinity, mediation, perfect holiness, 
obedience, sacrifice, merits, satisfaction, purchase, and 
grace of Christ ; the nature and necessity of regener- 
ation to the holy image of God by the supernatural 



84 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

operation of the divine Spirit, with the various parts 
of his office in enlightening our minds, awakening our 
consciences, and wounding, breaking, humbling, sub- 
duing, and changing our hearts. Also the nature of 
gospel obedience and holiness, and their necessity, 
not as matter of justification, but as the fruit and 
evidence of justifying faith, and to glorify God and 
enjoy him, the principal end both of our creation and 
redemption ; and lastly, the sovereignty of the grace 
of G-od in this whole transaction, from its original 
purpose to its consummation in glory." 

I am next constrained, in passing, to glance at 
those "bodily exercises 77 which profit little, and 
which in some places disturbed the regular order of 
worship, both in public and private. It were to be 
wished, that in a revival there should be no excite- 
ment beyond what the truth, faithfully addressed to 
the understanding, and applied to the heart and the 
conscience, is calculated to produce. But the time 
had not then come. There were nervous contortions, 
fainting, shrieking, and other disturbances, which 
sometimes quite drowned the voice of the preacher ; 
which were looked upon by many as the genuine oper- 
ations of the Holy Spirit, and of course encouraged, 
rather than repressed. 

Mr. Whitefield, in the early part of his rousing 
ministry, undoubtedly rejoiced to witness these surg- 
ings and outcries in the vast multitudes under his 
preaching. Long experience and observation, how- 
ever, very much modified his early impressions, if they 
did not convince him that shrieks and convulsions 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 85 

were no certain proofs of genuine conviction. Some 
other popular preachers evidently encouraged these 
outbreaks, under the persuasion that they were ex- 
cited by the mighty power of God. Even Edwards, 
in his early experience in revivals, seems not very 
decidedly to have discountenanced them ; but observ- 
ing how little they profited, how soon they passed 
away, as the morning cloud and the early dew, he 
" stood more and more in doubt of them," and used 
his influence to discourage them, as in his searching 
treatise on the Affections. % 

The leading ministers in Boston and many others 
were from the first afraid of them, as calculated rather 
to mar and bring the revival into discredit, than to 
promote and extend it; and wherever they were 
promptly checked, the revival went on quietly, with 
great solemnity, and produced more genuine and 
abundant fruit. 

On the other hand, while some of the most zealous 
and successful preachers of the day relied too much 
upon such outward demonstrations, others went quite 
into the opposite extreme, and set themselves to dis- 
countenance the work and keep it out of their parish- 
es, under the impression that if there was some good 
in it, it was vastly overbalanced by the fanaticism 
which it engendered and promoted. This opposition 
was a great damper upon the revival, and great evils 
and divisions grew out of the two extremes. As 
religion had sunk so low when this great awakening 
broke in upon the deep slumber of the churches, it is 
not strange that they fell into mistakes and extremes 
which many of the ministers afterwards saw and 



86 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

lamented. Notwithstanding these agitations upon 
the surface, the undercurrent was borne on by the 
Spirit of God, and watering the fields, produced 
abundant harvests. 

But a check was coming in from an unexpected 
quarter, which, to a lamentable extent, arrested its 
progress. It was not the opposition of the enemies 
of the work. In spite of all they could do to arrest 
it, it might have gone on indefinitely. It was not an 
enemy but a friend who did it ; and of this he deeply 
repented, when it was too late to repair the mischief. 

In looking back upon the progress of the great 
awakening, up to 1742, it is evident that the excite- 
ments which attended it, and were but too much en- 
couraged in many places, prepared the way for that 
outburst of fanaticism which Edwards and others, 
who had seen and rejoiced in the salvation of God, 
so deeply deplored. 

From the strong persuasion that those bodily agi- 
tations, groans, and outcries which they had witness- 
ed, were essential features and parts of the revival, it 
was but a step or two more to visions and revelations, 
when a leader should arise, of unquestioned piety, 
whose praise was in the churches. Such a leader was 
the Rev. James Davenport, a lineal descendant of the 
renowned John Davenport of New Haven and Bos- 
ton, which circumstance no doubt added to his influ- 
ence over many predisposed minds. He was settled 
at Southold, Long Island, and was a favorite of 
Whitefield. He had stood high in the opinion of the 
Tennents. Mr. Whitefield said he never knew one 
keep so " close a walk with God ;" and Mr. Parsons 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. Si 

of Lyme, another distinguished laborer in the work, 
said that not one minister whom he had seen was to 
be compared to Mr. Davenport for living near to 
God, and having his conversation always in heaven. 
When he had lost his balance, after performing great 
and successful labors, he, more than any other man, 
embodied in himself and promoted in others the ex- 
travagances into which the revival was running. In 
admiring the " spirit of the age," as it appeared in 
him, men of a fanatical turn admired their own spirit. 
Going foremost in the wrong direction, he was by 
many regarded as a model man and preacher, by a 
comparison with whom all others were to be judged. 
It appears from the concurrent testimony of all 
parties, that his influence, so far as it was felt, brought 
the revival to a crisis. Commencing with his own 
church, he called those whom he esteemed regenerate, 
brother, and the others, neighbor ; the latter of whom 
he soon forbade to come to the Lord's table. He 
next went from place to place denouncing churches 
that hesitated to receive him, claiming the right to 
demand of ministers the grounds of their Christian 
hope; and when they refused to answer, or their 
answers were unsatisfactory, he declared them to be 
unconverted, and warned the people against hearing 
them. When, on a certain occasion, four ministers 
called to see him and remonstrate against his career, 
he broke out and vehemently lectured them as uncon- 
verted men, blind guides, wolves in sheep's clothing, 
and the like; and wound up by offering a prayer, 
partly for their conversion, and partly against them. 
Thus he went on from place to place, demanding of 



88 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ministers an account of their religious experience, 
and condemning all who refused to give it. In this 
fanatical mission, to which he nothing doubted God 
had called him, he became more and more excited in 
denouncing all who opposed him, encouraging visions 
and revelations among his deluded followers, dividing 
and breaking up churches, and bringing great reproach 
upon the revival by leading many unwarrantably to 
identify it with these deplorable proceedings. 

The epidemic reached its crisis at New London, 
in the month of March, 1743, where he gave out a 
catalogue of religious books which must be brought 
together and burned, as unsafe in the hands of the 
people. They were accordingly carried to the wharf 
and burned by his followers, singing round the pile 
Hallelujah and glory to God, and declaring, that as 
the smoke of these books ascended up in their pres- 
ence, so the smoke of the torment of such of their 
authors as died in the same belief, was now ascending 
in hell. Strange to tell, among those authors were 
Berridge, Flavel, Mather, Colman, and Sewall, not 
even sparing Parsons, one of the most fervid revival- 
ists. This was the last and crowning act of fanati- 
cism, so far at least as Davenport was concerned. 
From this time he disappears from the stage, till the 
summer of 1744. Charity believes that this burning 
zeal, spurning all restraint, then reached the crisis of 
absolute mental derangement. But, blessed be God, 
it was not to last ; and when he came to himself, he 
the next year published, July 28, 1744, his humble 
recantations, from which, in justice to him, I make 
the following brief extracts : 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 89 

" Although I do not question at all "but there is 
great reason to bless God for a glorious and won- 
derful work of his power and grace, in the edification 
of his children, and the conviction and conversion of 
numbers in New England, in the neighboring govern- 
ments, and several other parts, within a few years 
past, and believe that the Lord hath favored me, though 
most unworthy, in granting special assistance and 
success, the glory of all which be given to Jehovah, 
to whom the glory belongs ; yet, after frequent medi- 
tation and desires that I might be enabled to appre- 
hend things justly, I am fully convinced and per- 
suaded that several appendages of this glorious work 
are no essential parts thereof, but of a different and 
contrary nature and tendency, which I have been in- 
strumental in promoting by a misguided zeal ; being, 
further, much influenced in the affair by the false spirit 
which prompted me to unjust apprehensions and con- 
duct in several particulars, which have been great 
blemishes to the work of God, very grievous to some of 
God's children, no less ensnaring and corrupting to 
others of them, the sad means of many persons question- 
ing the work of God, concluding and appearing against 
it, and of the hardening of multitudes in their sins, and 
an awful occasion of the enemy's blaspheming the right 
way of the Lord, and very offensive to that God before 
whom I would lie in the dust prostrate in deep humil- 
ity and repentance, imploring pardon for the Media- 
tor's sake, and thankfully accepting the token thereof. 

" The articles which I specially refer to, and in 
the most public manner retract and warn others 
against, are these which follow : 



90 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

"1. The method I used for a considerable time 
with respect to some ministers, in openly exposing 
such as I feared or thought unconverted, in public 
prayer or otherwise ; herein making my private judg- 
ment, in which also I much suspect I was mistaken in 
several instances, the ground of public actions or 
conduct, offending against the laws both of justice 
and charity. 

" 2. By advising and urging to such separations 
from those ministers whom I treated as above, as I 
believe may justly be called rash, unwarrantable, and 
of sad and awful tendency and consequence; and 
here I would ask the forgiveness of those ministers 
whom I have injured. 

" 3. I confess I have been much led astray by fol- 
lowing impulses or impressions as a rule of conduct, 
whether they came with or without a text of Scrip- 
ture. I am persuaded this was a great means of cor- 
rupting my experiences in carrying me off from the 
word of God. 

" 4. I believe further that I have done much hurt 
to religion, by encouraging private persons to a mag- 
isterial or authoritative kind of method of exhorting, 
which is particularly observable in many such being 
much puffed up and falling into the snare of the devil, 
while many others are thus directly prejudiced against 
the work. 

" And now may the holy and wise and good God 
be pleased to guard and secure me against such errors 
for the future, and stop the progress of those, whether 
ministers or people, who have been corrupted by my 
words or example; and Oh, may he grant withal, 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 91 

that such as by reason of the foresaid errors and mis- 
conduct have entertained unhappy prejudices against 
Christianity in general, or the late glorious work of 
God in particular, may by this account learn to dis- 
tinguish the appendages from the substance or essence, 
that which is vile and odious from that which is pre- 
cious, glorious, and divine, and thus be entirely and 
happily freed from all those prejudices referred to, 
and this in infinite "mercy through Jesus Christ ; and 
to these requests may all Cod's children, whether 
ministers or others, say, Amen." 

That so pious and devoted a minister as Mr. 
Davenport was believed to be by his contemporaries 
who knew him best, and as he doubtless was, should 
be left to bring so much distrust and reproach upon 
the most glorious revival that the country had ever 
enjoyed, was a mystery which will not be fully dis- 
closed till the judgment of the great day. But it is 
full of instruction and warning. The great Head 
of the church may have seen that such a lesson of 
human weakness at its best estate, should be put 
upon record as a warning to "the generations fol- 
lowing." 

The rapid sketch which I have given of that won- 
derful time of refreshing, almost a century and a quar- 
ter ago, would have been one-sided and incomplete 
if I had omitted these statements. It is due to those 
into whose hands this epitome may fall, that they 
should be put on their guard against such outbreaks 
of animal excitement and enthusiasm as have marred 
and cut short former revivals. 



92 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

After making every abatement, the years of the 
" Great Awakening " were precious years of the right 
hand of the Most High. It left the churches of New 
England in a far sounder and better state than it 
found them. It effectually shut the door against ad- 
mitting unregenerate persons to the Lord's supper 
as a converting ordinance, which Mr. Stoddard had 
unhappily opened in his own church, and by his writ- 
ings in others. Reasoning out of the Scriptures, Mr. 
Edwards, in his " Terms of Communion/' showed the 
practice to be wholly indefensible • and I am not 
aware that any evangelical church has favored it 
since. This was a great gain. Had the practice 
been continued, and become universal, it would have 
been more than a paralysis. The churches might 
have retained their names, but as true churches of 
Christ they would not have survived. 

Another important gain was, that the revival, 
widely extended and powerful as it was, prepared 
the way for freeing the churches from the " Half-way 
Covenant." Though in some quarters it held its 
ground longer, it was very much circumscribed. We 
shall meet with some remains of it hereafter, but dy- 
ing out. 

Another immense gain to the cause of Christ was, 
that it greatly relieved the churches from the sopo- 
rific influence of an unconverted ministry. It was 
admitted that there were unconverted pastors over 
some of the churches, and regeneration had come to 
be thought by many no essential qualification for the 
sacred office. It was held, that if preachers were 
men of blameless lives they were not to be rejected 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY— AMERICA. 93 

though they did not profess to have been born again. 
Some of this number were the subjects of the revival, 
and confessed that they had preached for years with- 
out knowing what experimental piety was. In this 
respect the revival prepared the way for a great 
change for the better. It is not claimed that there 
can be any certain protection against the intrusion 
of unconverted men into the ministry. The strictest 
examination for the cure of souls cannot shut them 
out, for God alone knows the heart ; but that none 
save converted men are fit to enter the ministry, is 
now universally held by the evangelical churches of 
all denominations. 

Moreover, the preaching in the orthodox churches 
has, ever since this great revival, been more spir- 
itual and discriminating than it was when it began. 
The cardinal doctrines of universal and entire de- 
pravity, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and justifi- 
cation by faith alone, with other kindred evangelical 
topics drawn from the word of God, held from that 
time forth a more prominent place in the ministra- 
tions of the pulpit, than they had done for ages 
before. 

Hence, though all that could have been desired 
was not accomplished, the good seed was sown broad- 
cast over the land ; and though we shall find, in the 
next period, that many hostile influences checked its 
growth for nearly half a century, it was so far from 
being lost where it did not spring up at once, that it 
was to take root and grow and ripen into other har- 
vests, with more wheat, fewer tares, and less chaff. 



94 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE REVIVAL EPOCH ABOUT 1800. 

Passing from the glorious revival period, about 
the middle of the last century, under the preaching 
of Edwards, Whitefield, the two Tennents, Dr. Bel- 
lamy, and other apostolic laborers, we find the shad- 
ows of a long night settling down again upon the 
churches of this land. Like Israel of old, the most 
of them were in the wilderness about forty years, 
and only kept alive by supplies of the heavenly 
manna, and of the water from the Rock. From 1745, 
to near the close of the century, the Holy Spirit with- 
held in a great measure those copious refreshings, 
which had turned so many parched fields into gar- 
dens of the Lord, and made their fruit shake like 
Lebanon. At no time, indeed, during that period 
was it all dark, all barren. All along, here and 
there over the wide waste, some precious revivals 
broke out, " like streams in the desert/' to keep alive 
the faith, and gladden the hearts of those who mourn- 
ed over the desolations of Zion. Towards the close 
of the period, there were more of these than I had 
supposed, till I met with notices of several of unmis- 
takable genuineness between 1770 and 1790 in New 
England and the Middle States including the new 
settlements of Western Pennsylvania, and with some 
further south, especially as recorded in Dr. Alexan- 
der's narrative of what he himself witnessed in South- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 95 

ern and Western Virginia, about 1790.* These were 
the harbingers of that bright rising of the Sun of 
righteousness, which I am now approaching in these 
revival sketches. 

It had been a long hard winter, in which the cur- 
rent of spiritual life was all but frozen up, and it 
seemed almost as if the winding-sheet which was 
spread over the land would never be taken off. But 
at the same time, precious fruits of the great harvest 
which had been garnered remained. None of the 
churches, I believe, that had renounced the Half-way 
Covenant in the Great Awakening, brought it back 
again, though it still lingered in churches which that 
revival, if it reached them at all, left but half re- 
formed. I found it in Fairfield, Connecticut, where I 
was first settled, in 1807. Some other churches in that 
county had not yet given it up. It was also found in 
some of the Presbyterian churches, and it prevailed 
extensively for some time longer in the eastern and 
central parts of Massachusetts. If it still darkens 
the half-open door of any evangelical church, I do not 
know where it is. Other vantage ground was gained 
in the " Great Awakening," from which the churches 
did not slide back. 

But although, when a brighter day dawned near 
the close of the century, it was not necessary to " lay 
again the foundation of repentance from dead works, 
and of faith towards God," as in the preceding ref- 
ormation, the building did not go up. Dark days 
intervened, during which, instead of making any 

* See the Life of Dr. Archibald Alexander, by Dr. James 
W. Alexander, chs. 2, 3, 4. 



96 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

aggressive inroads upon the kingdom of darkness, the 
churches lost ground. The fathers and mothers who 
had been converted under Edwards and the other 
rousing preachers of his day, were passing off from 
the stage, and but few of the younger generation were 
coming on to fill their places. Many orthodox church- 
es might be named, into which for long years no young 
persons, or next to none, were received. 

Most of the ministers, indeed, where the great re- 
vivals in the middle of the century had been enjoyed, 
were sound in the faith, and preached the distinguish- 
ing doctrines of the gospel. In obedience to the word 
of the Lord, they kept on prophesying over the dry 
bones; but for the most part were constrained to 
ask, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom 
is the arm of the Lord revealed?' 7 While they did 
not cease to pray, " Lord, revive thy work in the 
midst of the years, in wrath remember mercy," they 
hardly dared to hope for so great a blessing. Such 
was the state of things till near the close of the 
century. 

We are next to inquire, what were the causes of 
the alarming dearth and declension just mentioned, 
before we hail the dawn of a brighter day. In look- 
ing back upon that period, some of these causes are 
too obvious to be mistaken. 

First came what is familiarly called, the " Old 
French war." While we slept, the enemy, ever 
awake and aggressive, had been skilfully drawing 
a line of circumvallation quite round the English 
colonies, to hem us in, by building a chain of forts 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 91 

from Louisburg and Quebec on the north, by the way 
of Detroit and St. Louis, down to the mouth of the 
Mississippi. And now it was, that France, aided by 
the warlike tribes of Indians whom she could enlist 
in the bloody enterprise, sought to bring all North 
America under the yoke of Rome. God interposed, 
and the attempt signally failed. But the danger, 
while it lasted, created universal alarm; and the 
necessary defence of the frontiers demanded all the 
force that could be raised, and absorbed the anxious 
minds of the whole population. In this state of things, 
it would have been strange indeed if the churches 
had been visited by revivals — if the cause of Christ 
had not declined, as it did. 

Scarcely was that danger over, when serious diffi- 
culties broke out between the colonists and the moth- 
er country, and continued to increase till they issued 
in the war of the Revolution. Here, again, it would 
have been very remarkable if, in the midst of all 
these agitations of the then infant settlements, revi- 
vals had sprung up. They did not. Humanly speak- 
ing, there was no room for them. And we know that 
God works by means, in favorable seasons, and orders 
events for building up his churches, as well as for 
accomplishing his other great purposes. 

When the war of Independence broke out, in 1775, 
the state of the country was, if possible, still more 
unfavorable to the progress of true religion. It was 
a struggle for colonial emancipation, with one of the 
most powerful nations of the world, which lasted 
seven years, during which the shifting and sometimes 
the almost despairing fortunes of the bloody contest 

Eev. Sketches. f) 



98 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

shallowed up every other interest; so that instead 
of revival rejoicings, were heard the confused noise 
of the battle of the warriors, " the thunder of the cap- 
tains, and the shouting." In such a state of things, 
when the American armies were wading through frost 
and blood to conquer national independence, and the 
anxious hopes and fears of the whole people were 
alternately swallowed up in the mighty struggle, how 
could religion prosper ? The Spirit of God is a spirit 
of peace, and not of war. I know that G-od is able 
to build up his churches in the midst of wars and 
fightings, just as he is able to awaken and convert 
hardened sinners under the most unfavorable circum- 
stances ; but this is not his manner. To show that 
he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and 
that he can carry on his work in spite of the most 
hostile influences, he may work wonders. But how 
few revivals have ever been witnessed in the midst 
of a desolating war. If any, they have been extra- 
ordinary interpositions of divine sovereignty. Some 
may have occurred during the seven years' war ; but 
if any, I do not know where to find the record. Cer- 
tain I am, that that bloody contest was directly op- 
posed, as all wars are, to the spiritual growth of the 
churches. It left them much weaker than it found 
them. 

When it closed, and the armies were disbanded, 
many of the officers and soldiers brought home with 
them the dissipated and demoralizing habits of the 
camp, such as profaneness, intemperance, and Sab- 
bath-breaking — influences as hostile to revivals as the 
war itself. And scarcely less so was the unsettled 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 99 

state of affairs throughout the country, till the new 
government was organized and established by the 
adoption of the Federal Constitution. The minds of 
the people were too much agitated and engrossed by 
conflicting political interests, to have much room for 
more than the ordinary routine of religious obser- 
vances. Revivals were hardly expected anywhere 
during those years of civil agitation, and they were 
not enjoyed. Zion languished. While the form of 
godliness remained in the churches, there was but 
little of the power. 

In the mean time, as might have been expected, 
French Infidelity, which our allies brought over with 
them, was sowed broadcast among our own officers 
and soldiers. Aided by Paine's "Age of Reason," 
Voltaire's assaults upon Christianity, Yolney's Ruins, 
and other blasphemous publications, it spread rapidly, 
especially among the upper classes. The Illuminati, 
so called, of France and Germany, who were secretly 
associated for the overthrow of all existing religious 
institutions, had their affiliated societies in this coun- 
try, enrolling not a few men of high social and politi- 
cal standing and influence. It became fashionable, 
in high places and low places, flippantly to prate 
against the Bible, and sneer at things sacred and di- 
vine. Instead of the Scriptures, French philosophy 
claimed to be the rule of faith and life, and ignoring 
all the " rights of God," was to usher in the glorious 
millennium of the " rights of man." 

Towards the close of that period, in 1789, broke 
out the French Revolution, the bloodiest of all revolu- 
tions, which was not only to sweep away the throne, 



100 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

and level all the civil distinctions of society, but to 
destroy the priesthood, root and branch, abolish the 
Sabbath, and establish the reign of liberty and equality 
on the ruins. Though the unheard of atrocities of 
that reign of terror sent a thrill of horror through the 
whole civilized world, so dear was our new-born 
liberty to us, that the very name had a charm in it, 
which at first excited our fraternal sympathies, not- 
withstanding our abhorrence of the fiendish atrocities 
by which it had been sought to be acquired. 

How hostile all this was to the interests of pure 
and undefiled religion it is needless to say ; and when 
from this point we look back to the reaction which 
followed the Great Awakening, and then come down 
through the revolutionary war to the return of peace, 
which brought with it the moral camp-distemper that 
wars always generate, and glance at the agitations 
of the public mind which preceded the adoption of the 
Federal constitution, who can wonder that there were 
so few revivals, or rather, not wonder that there were 
any during all that upheaving tempestuous period. It 
seemed as if the floods of ungodliness must swallow 
up the church. The few survivors who remembered 
the days of old, when multitudes were gathered in the 
times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, 
were ready to ask, Are the mercies of God clean 
gone for ever ? Will he be favorable no more ? 

But just then when it seemed to grow darker and 
darker, the night was far spent, and the day was at 
hand. A few years before the close of the century 
the light of a new revival epoch began to dawn. Here 
and there a church rose and shook herself from the 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 101 

dust. Sinners were awakened, and began to inquire 
what they must do to be saved. So that when the old 
century was departing, and the new century came in, 
many a field that had long been languishing began to 
rejoice under the reviving influence. Christ by his 
Spirit came down, here and there, like rain upon the 
mown grass, and like showers that water the earth. 

It is of the commencement, and progress, and fruits 
of that remarkable revival epoch, that I am now to 
speak, reserving for subsequent pages a notice of the 
remarkable work which God was effecting simultane- 
ously in the mother country. 

And here ample materials are at hand for a vol- 
ume, in the narratives drawn up at the time by pas- 
tors of the churches, and published in the Connecticut 
Evangelical Magazine and other religious annals. Of 
these I shall avail myself as far as my design and 
limits will admit. 

And here let me say, it is with no ordinary solici- 
tude that I approach this remarkable revival epoch. 
The theme is high ; I cannot attain unto it. Lord, 
help my infirmities. It is a gloriously illuminated 
chapter in the History of Redemption. It were easy 
to collect materials more than enough- But to con- 
dense and arrange them in the best manner ; to show 
in what respects this revival epoch differed from those 
in the preceding centuries, at which I have already 
glanced ; to gather up its precious fruits, and to show 
its bearing upon the further advancement of the Re- 
deemer's kingdom, is a task which, so far as I know, 
has not yet been accomplished by any one, and to 



102 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

which I feel myself very unequal. Nevertheless, the 
plan which I have marked out for chronicling the 
triumphs of the cross in these sketches, does not allow 
me to shrink from the attempt. 

When this fresh outpouring of the Spirit began, I 
was just coming upon the stage, and God had cast my 
lot in that part of the vineyard where the gospel had 
been faithfully preached by ministers who were anx- 
iously waiting for the Saviour's return. I knew them, 
and often heard them preach, before and during the 
revivals. Now, after more than fifty years, I have a 
distinct recollection of their countenances, their tones 
of voice, their earnest and solemn appeals, their going 
out and coming in among the people. They had 
diversities of natural gifts and acquired qualifica- 
tions, but the same Spirit. There was no such mas- 
sive pillar among them as Jonathan Edwards, to lean 
upon. It was not needed. There was no Whitefield 
to pass from town to town, from state to state, gather- 
ing his thousands in the open air, and swaying them 
by his soul and tongue of fire, as the trees of a forest 
are bowed and shaken by mighty winds. There was 
no voice like his to fill the open firmament of heaven 
with the thunder ings of Sinai, and the melting tones 
of Calvary. But there were Bellamys to stand upon 
the heights and make the curses of the law reverber- 
ate from Ebal to Gerizim, and from Gerizim to Ebal. 
As in the primitive age, there were sons of thunder, 
and sons of consolation among them. There was the 
younger Edwards, a great master of logic, and mighty 
in the Scriptures. There was Griffin having just 
buckled on the harness, a young Melancthon, in the 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 103 

ardor of his first love for Christ, majestic in stature, 
with a voice of extraordinary flexibility and power, 
combining some of the finest tones of the organ with 
the softest and tenderest notes of the flute. I thought 
then, and think now, that I never heard such a voice 
in the pulpit. He was a great preacher in the best 
sense of the term, and his labors, as we shall see, were 
abundantly blessed in winning souls to Christ. And 
then there was Hallock, quite his counterpart in some 
respects, bred a farmer in one of the small hill towns 
of Massachusetts; untrained in the higher schools; 
meek as the meekest disciple, always readier to say, 
Brother, go up higher, than to go himself; but a man 
of good natural talents, shrewd common-sense, deep 
humble piety, and an irrepressible longing after souls 
in the bowels of Jesus Christ. He came late into the 
ministry, and without the slightest pretension to pop- 
ular address or rhetoric, became one of the most hon- 
ored, beloved, and useful ministers of his day. No 
one was more acceptable in that revival than he. 

Nor were these more worthy or devoted than 
many others. There were Bobbins and Backus and 
Mills and Gillett and Perkins and Strong and Porter 
and Hooker and Miller and Williams and Cooley 
and Hawley and Cowles, of like precious faith, whose 
lips the Lord touched as with live coals from off the 
altar, whose parishes were contiguous, and whose 
labors were abundantly blessed. Most of them be- 
longed to the same district association. They held 
their monthly meetings for mutual improvement and 
prayer, in which they wrestled together and prevailed. 
I have named them, not as more worthy to be had 



104 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

in everlasting remembrance than Dwight, Hyde, Cat- 
lin, Stillman, Baldwin, Manning, Mason, Livingston, 
Furman, Marshall, and many others of their brethren 
in other parts of the vineyard that were copiously 
watered by the same showers, but because I knew and 
heard them, and witnessed the effects of their labors. 
Their preaching was not in man's wisdom, but in 
demonstration of the Spirit, and with power. It was 
eminently scriptural. The ministers of that day read 
and studied the Bible more than all other books. They 
had received it from their Master as their only com- 
mission, and in virtue of it, as ambassadors for Christ, 
they besought sinners in his stead to be reconciled to 
God. It was surprising to notice with what facility 
they would quote chapter and verse from all parts of 
both Testaments, without turning over a single leaf. 
Indeed, it sometimes seemed to me as if they knew all 
the Bible by heart ; and it is no disparagement to 
say, that they did know much more of it than most 
preachers do now. They had a great deal more of it 
in their sermons. Almost all their illustrations, as 
well as their proofs, were drawn from its rich and 
inexhaustible treasures. " Thus saith the Lord," was 
enough for them, let who would criticize, cavil, or 
blaspheme. They did not shun, either from fear or 
favor, to declare all the counsel of God, as they un- 
derstood it, whether men would hear, or whether 
they would forbear. They did not wreathe the sword 
around with flowers, but left the two edges bare and 
sharp, to cut where they would — the deeper the bet- 
ter ; and they applied no emollients to heal the hurt 
slightly. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 105 

The fathers of that day, of whom I am speaking, 
whatever else any of them may have lacked, were 
Gamaliels in the law and the prophets. They made 
no appeals to the passions, and there were no out- 
cries and convulsions under their preaching, as there 
had been in the " Great Awakening." 

The word of God, as our minister used it, was quick 
and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, and 
piercing even to the dividing asunder of the joints 
and the marrow, and discerning the thoughts and 
intents of the heart. Oh how we smarted under it. 
I remember it well in my own case, and how my 
heart rebelled against some of the doctrines which 
my Bible and my conscience told me were true, till, 
as I hope, I was brought to bow and submit at the 
foot of the cross. And as it was with me, so it was 
with multitudes of others. We complained of some 
of Paul's hard sayings, and wondered why our minis- 
ters dwelt so much upon them. We wanted to get to 
heaven in some easier way. But instead of abating 
one jot or tittle to relieve us, they pressed harder 
and harder, driving us from one refuge to another, 
till there was no hiding-place left. The law, which 
we had broken times without number, we were made 
to feel was just ; its fiery penalty hung over our heads, 
and we must submit or die. Under such preaching 
it was hard to get hopes ; but when embraced, they 
were more to be relied upon, than if they had been 
gained in some easier way. 

Our spiritual guides and teachers never said to 
us, when under awakening, "Don't be discouraged; 
wait God's time, and he will deliver you." No, no ; 

5* 



106 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

but, " How long will you hold out in your rebellion 
against G-od?" They never asked us while in this 
state, "Don't you feel better?" but, "Why don't you 
submit to God, and cast yourselves upon his mercy, 
embracing the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, who came 
down from heaven on purpose to save the lost. Turn 
ye, turn ye ; why will ye die V 

I do not say that this law work, as it has been 
appropriately called, was alike marked and pungent 
in all cases. It was not. He who worketh all things 
according to the counsel of his own will, opened some 
hearts, as he seems to have opened that of Lydia, at 
once to receive the truth in the love of it. But I am 
quite sure, that in most cases the conversions in that 
revival were preceded by sharp conviction of sin and 
of deserved punishment. It was eminently a law revi- 
val, issuing in the more abundant and abiding conso- 
lations of the gospel. Those loved most, who felt 
that they had been forgiven most. 

As our pastors were careful not to encourage us 
that we had passed from death unto life without good 
scripture evidence of the change, they were very strict 
in their examinations for church-membership. If they 
thought any of the candidates did not give satisfactory 
evidence of having been converted, they did not hesi- 
tate to tell them so. In this way, not a few were 
kept back, and solemnly exhorted to begin anew, and 
never rest satisfied till they could obtain better evi- 
dence. 

That some real converts may, under this scrutiny, 
have been thrown into needless alarm and distress, 
and kept out of the church too long, is not improba- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 10T 

ble ; but others afterwards thanked their pastors, with 
tears in their eyes, for having dealt with them so 
faithfully, saying, We now see that we were building 
on a false foundation ; and if you had encouraged us, 
we should in all likelihood have settled down upon 
it and lost our souls. On which side it is safest to 
err, in dealing with new-born hopes, who can doubt? 
If a person has been truly converted, no degree of 
strictness in his examination, though it should shake 
his hope for the time, and give him needless distress, 
can endanger his salvation. Born of God, his seed 
will remain in him, and a prayerful revision of the 
ground of his hope may help in the end to strengthen 
and establish it. Whereas, on. the contrary, too much 
encouragement may induce one who is unconverted 
to settle down upon a false hope and perish, who, to 
human view; might have been saved by the faithful 
dealing of his spiritual teacher. It is not supposable 
that the former, when he gets to heaven, will be sorry 
that his pastor was so strict in examining the founda- 
tion of his hope, though it may have given him pain ; 
but it is more than probable, that the latter may re- 
proach his minister at the bar of God for healing the 
hurt slightly. 

In the revival of which I am now speaking, the 
pastors called in no evangelists without charge to aid 
them. They did all the preaching themselves, help- 
ing one another as occasion required. This they 
did by occasional exchanges, and oftener at weekly 
lectures. They also sometimes went round from par- 
ish to parish, two and two by appointment. These 
visits by brethren who came with hearts warmed in 



108 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

revivals at home, were very much blessed. I remem- 
ber them during the revival in B , where I was 

brought up. One of the ministers preached at one 
service, and the other followed with an address. In 
the next, the order was reversed ; and this was the 
usual way at those meetings. Besides the two regu- 
lar services on the Sabbath, there were prayer-meet- 
ings in the evening, (conferences they were then call- 
ed,) which the pastors generally attended, aided by 
some of the lay brethren. One week-day lecture 
was preached, sometimes two, and evening meetings 
were held at the school-houses, more or less, in the 
out districts of the congregation. Taken altogether, 
I think there were not so many extra meetings as 
are common now in powerful revivals. Perhaps there 
were not enough. Though I am not sure. Christians 
may be so much abroad as to leave but little time 
for home duties in the family and the closet. Is not 
this sometimes the case? I think it is. It is easier 
to sit and listen and enjoy the social meeting, than to 
keep the heart in a humble and devout frame for 
secret prayer ; and I am afraid too many Christians 
are ready to excuse themselves for want of punctuali- 
ty in the latter, by thinking that they make it up and 
more by going to all the meetings. And this leads 
me to ask, Is there not more time spent in secret 
wrestling with the Angel of the covenant in the earlier 
stages of revivals, than in the later? and if so, may 
not this neglect be one principal reason why many of 
these precious seasons are of such short continuance ? 
The ministers of that day held no four-days\ or 
other protracted meetings. They depended much on 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 109 

the preaching of the word upon the Sabbath, for the 
awakening- of sinners; and I believe this divinely 
appointed means was more owned and blessed than 
perhaps all the auxiliary services put together, impor- 
tant and helpful as they undoubtedly were. 

Those pastors had no seats set apart for the awa- 
kened, nor did they call upon any who wished for 
special prayer to signify it by rising in the meetings. 
Much as they rejoiced when many were turned to the 
Lord, they never, I believe, urged young converts to 
come forward and take part, till they had had some 
time to examine the foundation of their hopes ; think- 
ing it safer than the haste and urgency which are 
sometimes employed. There is doubtless such a thing 
as keeping back converts so long, that through diffi- 
dence they may be unwilling to pray and exhort when 
their assistance in the prayer-meetings would be very 
acceptable and edifying. This, as well as the oppo- 
site extreme, should be guarded against. Pastors 
want all the good lay help they can get, and every 
genuine revival brings some men into the church who 
may be trained up for these auxiliary services. 

Before presenting from laborers in these revivals 
more minute and detailed testimonies to their char- 
acter and results, I am sure I shall gratify many by 
drawing from the eloquent public discourses of Dr. 
Edward D. Griffin, an expression of his views of this 
great work of God, the influence of which so distinct- 
ly characterized the whole of his brilliant career, and 
in which he was himself one of the earliest con- 
verts. 



110 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Graduating at Yale college in 1790, at the age 
of twenty, the next year he was taken sick, brought 
to reflection, and led to consecrate himself to Christ 
and the ministry. He studied theology with the 
younger President Edwards, was licensed, and in 1792 
found himself at his father's house in East Haddam, 
Connecticut, " the only professor of religion in a fam- 
ily of ten." He labored for their salvation ; attended 
a prayer-meeting in the neighborhood j and in Novem- 
ber, while one of his sisters " was weeping in anguish 
of spirit," he was making his appeals to those around 
him. " That/ 7 said he, " was the beginning of Amer- 
ican revivals so far as they fell under my personal 
observation, and from that moment I know they have 
never ceased." In January he commenced preach- 
ing in New Salem, a neighboring village, where his 
labors were blessed in " a revival of great power, and 
a church was gathered where there had not been one 
for more than forty years," and there and in the vicin- 
ity " about one hundred were hopefully added to the 
Lord." Speaking of this period, he says, "I had an 
opportunity to see the whole field of death before a 
bone began to move. And no one who comes upon the 
stage forty years afterwards, can have any idea of the 
state of things at that time."* 

* Dr. Griffin, in a note at a later period, states that long 
before the death of Whitefield in 1770, extensive revivals in 
America had ceased ; and that revivals had been reported to 
him in Stockbridge and other parts of Berkshire county in 
1772, in a part of Lyme about 1780, and in several towns in 
Litchfield county about 1783. Notices have also appeared of 
revivals in Princeton college, under Dr. Witherspoon, in 1771, 
1772 ; in connection with the labors of Dr. McWhorter in New- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. Ill 

In closing his sermon preached before the Ameri- 
can Board for Foreign Missions, at Middletown, Con- 
necticut, in 1826, he thus celebrates the grace of God 
in this revival epoch : 

" For many years the Christian world had been 
sunk in a profound slumber in regard to the duty of 
giving the gospel to the heathen ; but for the last 
four and thirty years they have been waking up. He 
who has engraven Zion on the palms of his hands — 
who never wants means to fulfil his promises — has 
sent his heavenly influence to rouse the Christian 
world. He beheld the desolations of Zion, and has 
come to rebuild her ruined walls. He heard the 
groans of his people as, with harps on the willows, 
they were weeping ' by the rivers of Babylon/ and 
has come to bring them again 'to Zion with songs 
and everlasting joy upon their heads.' Eternal thanks 
to God for what our eyes have seen and our ears have 
heard for the last four and thirty years. Eternal 

ark, 1772; of Dr. McMillan in Western Pennsylvania, 1781- 
1794 ; of Rev. Mr. Caldwell in Elizabethtown in 1772, and an- 
other in the same town in 1784; Dr. Burton in Thetford, Ver- 
mont, and Rev. Dr. Shepard, Brentwood, New Hampshire, in 
1781 ; Dr. Wood in Boscawen, New Hampshire, 1782 ; Rev. Mr. 
Hallock in West Simsbury, 1783 ; Dr. Smalley, Berlin, Conn., 
Dr. Emmons in Franklin, and Rev. Mr. Sanford, Medway, Mass., 
in 1784 ; Rev. Mr. Waddel and Rev. Mr. Marshall in various 
parts of Georgia, 1784-1788 ; Dr. Buell in East Hampton, Long 
Island, 1785 ; Rev. Dr. Baldwin, Boston, and Rev. Moses Hal- 
lock, Plainfield, Massachusetts, 1790; and there were doubt- 
less others, notwithstanding the pervading spiritual dearth. 
The great and general work of which Dr. Griffin speaks was 
begun in Virginia earlier than 1792, as already intimated and 
as appears in subsequent pages. 



112 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

thanks to God for the increasing wonders which are 
rapidly opening on the world. And Oh — can we re- 
strain the bursting emotion? — for ever blessed be his 
great and glorious name for what we have begun to 
see in our own land. It is more than thirty years 
since the Christians in Great Britain awoke, and they 
have been holding on their way with increasing maj- 
esty and glory, until that little island bestows an- 
nually more than a million of dollars upon strangers. 
It is fourteen years since New England broke her 
slumbers, and now the mass of her population seems 
drenched in the missionary spirit. I saw the day 
cover the plains of Europe. I saw the westward- 
travelling light spread itself over these eastern states. 
Nine years ago I saw the rays of the morning tip our 
Presbyterian horizon. I saw the dawn blush deeper 
and deeper. I knew it would not all return again to 
midnight. I knew the sun would rise. At length I 
saw his golden limb above the eastern woods, and 
from the course of day I knew that soon the heavenly 
flood would cover all the plains to Arkansas and the 
Pacific. Already the influence of heaven has dropt 
upon the wilderness, and the yell of the warwhoop 
is changed to notes of praise. We must not stop till 
every Indian tongue has joined the general song. We 
must not stop till our influence has cheered the whole 
extent of South America. And then we must go forth 
to the islands, and hold on our way till we meet our 
brethren in other fields, and unite with them in com- 
pleting the harvest of the world. 

" We owe the sincerest gratitude to God for giv- 
ing us our existence in such a day as this. Many 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 113 

prophets and kings desired to see this day, and saw 
it not. One spirit has seized the Christian world to 
send the gospel, with a great company of its publish- 
ers, to all the nations of the earth. Missionary and 
Bible societies, those stupendous monuments of Chris- 
tian charity, have risen so rapidly and in so great 
numbers throughout Europe and America, that in 
contemplating them we are ' like them that dream.' 
These societies have already accomplished wonders, 
and are constantly stretching forward to future 
achievements beyond the reach of imagination. On 
the burning sands of Africa, where Christian feet 
never before trod, there is the holy band of mission- 
aries, struggling amid dangers and deaths, to lead the 
sable tribes of Ethiopia to stretch forth their hands 
to God. On the plains of Hindostan, a ' consecrated 
host' are translating the Scriptures into more than 
thirty different languages, spoken by a population 
greater than that of all Europe. On the borders of 
China they have produced a version which will give 
the oracles of God to one quarter of the population 
of the globe. In the northern islands a nation is 
born in a day. From the hill of Zion, from the top 
of Calvary, they are freighting every caravan of pil- 
grims with Bibles for all the countries of the east. 
Certainly the angel has begun his flight through the 
midst of heaven, ' having the everlasting gospel to 
preach to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and 
people.' " 

In his sermon, September, 1828, at the dedica- 
tion of the new chapel at "Williams college, of which 
he was then president, Dr. Griffin gives a fuller 



114 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

expression to his views of the influence of these 
revivals : 

" In turning to the religious history of the college 
and its prospective connection with the Redeemer's 
kingdom, a subject opens upon us of unbounded in- 
terest. 

" The year 1792, it has often been said, ushered 
a new era into the world. In that year the first 
blood was drawn in that mighty struggle which for 
more than twenty years convulsed Europe, and began 
the predicted destruction of the apocalyptic beast. 
In that year the first of those institutions which mod- 
ern charity has planned, and which now cover the 
whole face of the Protestant world, arose in Eng- 
land.* And in that year commenced that series of 
revivals in America, which has never been inter- 
rupted, night or day, and which never will be until 
the earth is full of the glory of the Lord as the waters 
cover the sea. In pondering upon the destinies of this 
college in illumined moments — in moments of intense 
interest — it has been no indifferent thought, that it 
arose into being at that punctum of time; that it 
opened upon the world when those other institutions 
began to open which are full of salvation — when the 
redemption of Africa commenced at Sierra Leone 
and St. Domingo — when that moral change began 
which has swept from so large a part of New Eng- 
land its looseness of doctrine and laxity of discipline, 
and awakened an evangelical pulse in every vein of 
the American church. 

* The Baptist Missionary Society, formed at Kettering by 
Andrew Fuller and others. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 115 

" It was my happiness to be early carried by the 
providence of God to Litchfield county, Conn., and to be 
fixed in that scene where the heavenly influence was 
to send out its stronger radiations to different parts 
of the country ; where thrice twenty congregations, 
in contiguous counties, were laid down in one field 
of divine wonders. There it was my privilege to be 
most intimately associated with such men as Mills 
and Gillett and Hallock — names which will be ever 
dear to the church on earth, and some of which are 
now familiar in heaven. Their voices, which I often 
heard in the silent groves, and in the sacred assem- 
blies which followed, and in the many, many meet- 
ings from town to town, have identified them in my 
mind with all those precious revivals which opened 
the dawn of a new day upon our country. 

" During the first seven years of the existence of 
this college — in which ninety-three graduated in six 
classes — there were but five professors of religion in 
the institution, exclusive of two who, seven months 
before the close of that period, were brought into the 
church by the revivals in Litchfield county. In three 
of those six classes there was not a single professor. 
From the commencement in 1798 till February, 1800, 
there was but one professor of religion in college. 

" The spring of 1806 was made memorable by the 
admission of those two distinguished youth, Goedon 
Hall and Samuel J. Mills. Mills was the son of 
my early friend the Rev. Samuel J. Mills of Tor- 
ringford, was known to me from a child, and received 
his permanent impressions in one of the most glorious 
revivals I have ever seen, in 1798, though he did 



116 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

not obtain relief till the month of November, 1801. 
He at once devoted himself to the cause of missions, 
and with a heart glowing with this desire entered 
upon his course of education. When he arrived in 
this town he found himself in a revival of religion. 
He could not fail to catch the spirit. He had joined 
a class in which, to say nothing of the living, there 
were such men as James Richards and Robert 
Chauxcey Robbixs. The Spirit of God fell upon 
the class. In the Life of Mills it is asserted, on the 
authority of ' one of his most valued classmates/ 
that he was much engaged before the event and dur- 
ing its continuance, was more resorted to than any 
other by the awakened, and was reputed the prin- 
cipal instrument. And yet his modesty, and the 
peculiar structure of his mind prevented him from 
taking a conspicuous part in public meetings. 

" In the course of the summer, eight or ten of that 
class became subjects of the work, and one or two 
others, among whom was Gordon Hall. 

" ' This revival/ says the author of Mills' Life, 
4 was among the most signal expressions of favor to 
the church.' He alludes to the well-known fact, that 
by means of this influence Mills prevailed to diffuse 
through a circle of choice spirits that zeal for mis- 
sions which actuated his own breast. On Wednes- 
day afternoons they used to retire for prayer to the 
bottom of the valley south of the west college ; and 
on Saturday afternoons, when they had more leisure, 
to the more remote meadow on the bank of the Hoo- 
sack, and there, under the haystacks, those young 
Elijahs prayed into existence the embryo of Amer- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 117 

ican missions. They formed a society, unknown to 
any but themselves, to make inquiries and to organize 
plans for future missions. They carried this society 
with them to Andover, where it has roused into mis- 
sionaries most that have gone to the heathen, and 
where it is still exerting a powerful influence on the 
interests of the world. I have been in situations to 
know that from the counsels formed in that sacred 
conclave, or from the mind of Mills himself, arose the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions, the American Bible Society, the United For- 
eign Missionary Society, and the African School un- 
der the care of the Synod of New York and New 
Jersey ; besides all the impetus given to domestic 
missions, to the Colonization Society, and to the gen- 
eral cause of benevolence in both hemispheres. If I 
had any instrumentality in originating any of those 
measures, I here publicly declare, that in every in- 
stance I received the first impulse from Samuel John 
Mills." 



118 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 



CHAPTER Y. 
THE REVIVAL EPOCH ABOUT 1800— 

CONTINUED. 

Havixg thus glanced at the revivals of the period 
now under review, as I remember them, it is time to 
let the ministers whom God honored as the instru- 
ments speak for themselves, and tell us how far the 
views which I have given correspond with their bet- 
ter means of experience and observation. Their tes- 
timony I have taken where I could find it, especially 
from the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, which 
sprung out of those revivals, and which contains quite 
the fullest record, I believe, that can be found in the 
Christian annals of the day. 

In making selections from the materials within 
my reach, I have been obliged more or less to abridge 
those from which I have most largely drawn j but so 
as to retain all their essential features. 

From Dr. Griffin, New Hartford, Conn. 1797-1799. 

" The work of divine grace among us three years 
ago, by which nearly fifty persons were hopefully 
added to the Lord, had not wholly ceased, when the 
last scene of mercy and wonder commenced. 

" Late in October, 1798, the people hearing of the 
displays of divine grace in West Simsbury, were in- 
creasingly impressed with the information. Several 
circumstances conspired to increase out* anxiety. The 
glorious work had already begun in Torringford, and 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 119 

the cloud appeared to be going all around us. It 
seemed as though Providence, by avoiding us, design- 
ed to bring to remembrance our past abuses of his 
grace. Besides, having been so recently visited with 
distinguishing favors, we dared not allow ourselves 
to expect a repetition of them so soon. 

" This was the state of the people when, on a Sab- 
bath in the month of November, it was the sovereign 
pleasure of the most merciful God very sensibly to 
manifest himself in the public assembly. From that 
memorable day, the flame which had been kindling 
in secret, broke out. By desire of the people, relig- 
ious conferences were set up in different parts of the 
town, which continued to be attended by deeply affect- 
ed crowds, and in which the divine presence and 
power were manifested to a degree which had never 
before been witnessed. It is not meant, that they 
were marked with outcries, distortions of the body, 
or any intemperate zeal ; but only that the power of 
divine truth made deep impression on the assemblies. 
You might often see a congregation sit with deep 
solemnity depicted in their countenances, without ob- 
serving a tear or a sob during the service. Most of 
those who were exercised, were often too deeply im- 
pressed to eat. Addresses to the passions were avoid- 
ed, and the aim was to come at the conscience. Lit- 
tle terror was preached except what is implied in 
the doctrines of the entire depravity of the carnal 
heart; its enmity against God; its' deceitful doubt- 
ings and attempts to avoid the soul-humbling terms 
of the gospel ; the radical defects of the doings of the 
unregenerate, and the sovereignty of God in the dis- 



120 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

pensations of his grace. The more clearly these and 
other kindred doctrines were displayed and under- 
stood, the more were convictions promoted. 

" The order and progress of these convictions were 
pretty much as follows. The subjects of them were 
brought to feel that they were transgressors, yet not 
totally sinful. As their convictions increased, they 
were constrained to acknowledge their destitution of 
love to God, but yet they thought they had no enmity 
against him. At length they would come to see that 
such enmity filled their hearts. In the first stages of 
conviction it was not easy for the subjects to realize 
their desert of eternal death. But afterwards, even 
while they gave decisive evidence of being still as de- 
void of a right temper as those wretches whose mouths 
will be stopped by the light of the last day, their 
conviction of this ill desert was in many instances 
very clear. Nevertheless, even to the last, their hearts 
would recoil at the thought of being in God's hands, 
and would rise against him for having reserved to 
himself to decide whether to sanctify and pardon 
them or not. Before conviction had become deep 
and powerful, many attempted to exculpate them- 
selves with a plea of inability ; and like their ances- 
tor, to cast the blame upon God by pleading, The 
nature which he gave me, beguiled me. This was the 
enemy's strong-hold. All who were a little more 
thoughtful than common, but not thoroughly convict- 
ed, would upon the first attack flee to this refuge. 
They would be glad to repent, they said, but could 
not, their nature and heart were so bad ; as though 
their nature and heart were not they themselves. But 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 121 

the progress of conviction in general soon removed 
this refuge of lies, and filled them with a sense of 
utter inexcusableness. And in every case, as soon as 
their enmity was slain, this plea wholly vanished; 
their language immediately became, ' I wonder I ever 
should have asked the question, how can I repent? 
My only wonder now is, that I could hold out so 
long.' As soon as the heart of stone was taken away, 
and the heart of flesh given, the subjects of this happy 
change exhibited sentiments and feelings widely dif- 
ferent from those above described. They were now 
wrapped up in admiration of the laws and absolute 
government of God, which had been the objects of so 
much cavil and disgust. 

"It would not consist with the designed brevity of 
this narration, nor yet perhaps with propriety, to 
detail all the interesting circumstances in the experi- 
ence of more than a hundred persons, who have been 
the subjects of this work. It may, however, be useful 
to go so far into particulars as to exhibit some of the 
distinguishing fruits of it. When asked what was 
the first thing which composed their anxious minds, 
they have sometimes answered, 'The thought that I 
was in the hands of God. It seems to me, that what- 
ever becomes of me, I cannot bear to be out of his 
hands.' They do not found their hopes on the sug- 
gestions of Scripture passages to their minds, or 
dreams, or seeing sights, or hearing voices, or on 
bliud unaccountable impulses. The Bible is to them 
a new book. Prayer seems their delight. Their 
hearts are peculiarly united to the people of God. 
But the most observable part of their character is a 



122 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

lovely appearance of humility. A sense of their ill- 
desert abides and increases upon them, after apparent 
renovation; a considerable time posterior to which 
some have been heard to say, 'I never had an idea 
what a heart I had, till this week.' 

" It is hoped that about fifty heads of families have 
been the subjects of this work, a considerable part 
of whom rank among the respectable and influential 
characters in the town. The power of the almighty 
Spirit has prostrated the stoutness of a considerable 
number, who were the last that human expectation 
would have fixed on to be the subjects of such a 
change. One old man who had not been in our house 
of worship, and probably not in any other, for more 
than twenty years, has been arrested in his retire- 
ment by the divine Spirit, and still remains like 'the 
troubled sea when it cannot rest. 

" It has been a remarkable season for the destruc- 
tion of false hopes. Nearly twenty of those who have 
lately appeared to build on the rock, have been pluck- 
ed off from a sandy foundation. One had supposed 
that she loved the God of providence because she had 
some sense of his daily kindness to her and her fami- 
ly, but was brought to see that she hated the real 
character of God with all her heart. Another, accus- 
tomed to contemplate moral truth in the light of a 
clear and penetrating intellect, had mistaken the as- 
sent of the understanding for the affections of the 
heart. 

"From observing the effects which the light of 
God's presence had upon false hopes, a trembling re- 
flection arose : How many such hopes will be chased 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 123 

away by the opening light of eternity. The Lord 
seemed to come to ' search Jerusalem with candles/ 
and to find out those that were settled on their lees. 
The church felt the shock. That same presence which 
at Sinai made all the church, and even Moses, exceed- 
ingly fear and quake, rendered this now a time of 
trembling with professors in general. Nevertheless, 
it was with most of them a season of great quicken- 
ing, and a remarkable day of prayer." 

From Rev. Jeremiah Hallock, of West Simsbury, Conn. 
1798, 1799. 

The manner in which God raised up some of the 
laborers in these revivals is worthy of devout acknow- 
ledgment. In Mr. Hallock's youthful days, in a new 
settlement of Western Massachusetts, he says, "I 
neither saw nor heard of awakenings," and "convic- 
tion, conversion, and revivals, were terms with which 
I was unacquainted." In 1779, at the age of twenty- 
one, while at work alone, he was " impressed with a 
sense of his dependence on God," and " of the sinful- 
ness of his heart," which ere long " seemed so black 
and polluted that he could hardly avoid crying out." 
At length, as he afterwards wrote, " The law of God 
appeared just, I saw myself a sinner, and Christ and 
the way of salvation by him looked pleasant. I 
thought it was a happiness to be in the hands of 
God, and that I could trust my all to him. It still did 
not occur to me that I had experienced a change of 
heart." Soon after, as he was called to do military 
duty, and he and his fellow-soldiers had entered a 
barn, he "found himself surrounded by his young 
companions and others, exhorting them on the subject 



124 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

of religion," " one of whom was then awakened, and 
afterwards obtained hope." It was the beginning 
of a revival ; meetings were appointed, and became 
frequent, full, and solemn, and as they had no minis- 
ter, and Mr. Hallock was the first of the apparent 
converts, it often devolved on him to lead the meet- 
ings. " In looking over the daily account I kept at 
this time," he says, "I find that during March and 
April, 1780, I attended meetings most of the even- 
ings, went sometimes as far as six miles, and spoke in 
them as much as a short sermon, generally from some 
passage of Scripture." In a few months he entered 
Dr. Dwight's school, then at Northampton, to study 
for the ministry; and in May, 1783, went to West 
Simsbury to study theology with a minister of his 
acquaintance. Here he says, " A revival of religion 
began. I believe about one hundred manifested a 
hope. Before it commenced, the church and Sabbath 
were almost lost ; now the church was gathered, re- 
formed, and increased." He was abundant in labors 
in this revival, attending and conducting religious 
meetings, and guiding inquirers. For nearly two years 
he labored in other places on which to some extent 
the blessing of the Spirit descended, and it was his 
confirmed wish to spend his life as an itinerant minis- 
ter, but he at length yielded to the importunity of the 
congregation in West Simsbury, and was installed their 
pastor in 1785, continuing through life to visit other 
churches in revival seasons, and in 1801 and 1807 
making mission tours of three months each in Yermont. 
The years immediately succeeding his settlement were 
a period of darkness in the churches generally. In 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 125 

1795, Dr. Griffin was settled in the adjoining parish 
of New Hartford. They both had tasted the blessed- 
ness of revivals, and together they mourned and wept 
and wrestled for perishing souls and the languishing 
interests of Zion. One or more of the groves is still 
pointed out where they, with neighboring pastors, used 
to retire from the world to agonize for the descent of 
the Holy Spirit. The day of mercy was near. At length 
the revival burst upon them, of which Mr Hallock 
says : 

" Through the course of twelve tedious years, be- 
fore this memorable period, the religion of Jesus grad- 
ually declined among us, the doctrines of Christ grew 
more and more unpopular, family prayer and all the 
duties of the gospel were less regarded, ungodliness 
prevailed, and particularly modern infidelity had 
made and was making alarming progress. Indeed, 
it seemed to an eye of sense, that the Sabbath would 
be lost, and every appearance of religion vanish. But 
the God of Zion, who can do every thing, was pleased 
to appear and lift up the standard of the omnipotent 
Spirit against the enemy, and to him be all the glory. 

"The first appearance of the work was sudden 
and unexpected. The second Sabbath in October, 
1798. I exchanged with a brother in the ministry. 
On my return the next evening, I found a young per- 
son under deep religious impressions. The morning 
following I found two other youths with the one first 
awakened, whose minds were likewise impressed. On 
the evening of this day a sermon was preached by a 
neighboring minister. The meeting was uncommon- 



126 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ly full, and the arrows of conviction reached some 
hearts. 

" The next day it was affecting to see by the ris- 
ing of the sun, awakened youths coming to my house, 
to know what they should do to be saved. On the 
ensuing Sabbath, the work was visible in the house 
of God, and the conference in the evening was full 
and very serious. The next day, when a sermon was 
preached by a neighboring minister, almost the whole 
parish came to meeting, and the work appeared to be 
going on. 

" Being called one evening to visit a neighbor in 
distress of mind, I received from her the following 
information: 'I was sober and thoughtful when a 
child, used to attend secret prayer, thought I loved 
good people, and finally concluded I was a Christian. 
But hearing that the work of God had begun among 
us, I thought it became me to examine on what foun- 
dation I stood, when I found I was building on the 
sand. On Monday night, my hope perished.' I do 
not know that I ever saw any one in bodily distress 
manifest greater anguish. But before morning she 
found relief, by having, as she hoped, her will bowed 
and swallowed up in the will of God. 

" The next week, on Wednesday, November 1, a 
sermon was preached, and there were but half as 
many present as on the week before, and we were 
greatly afraid that all was about to decline and die. 
This was indeed a trying hour. No fond parent ever 
watched the fever of his child at the hour of its crisis 
with more anxious and interested feelings, than num- 
bers of God's praying friends watched the work of the 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 121 

Spirit at this critical moment. The thoughts of its 
going off were more dreadful than the grave. It was 
not long, however, before it appeared that God had 
in very deed come to carry on his work, and the 
hearts of Zion's friends were elated with fresh hopes. 
The solemnity of this season cannot be communicated. 
It can be known only by experience. 

"A brother in the ministry, among whose people 
the same work had begun, told me that he had seen 
twenty in a room, the most of them mortally sick, 
and at the point of death, but that the scene was not 
so impressive as to see a house filled with souls in 
distress, sensible of impending and eternal wrath, and 
their feet sinking in that horrible pit from whence 
there is no redemption. An awful silence reigned, 
unless when it was broken by the cry, ■ What shall I 
do to be saved?' But it was not long before, as we 
hope, one and another were brought to repentance 
and faith. To behold poor sinners, who were but 
yesterday on the brink of destruction and wholly 
unreconciled to God, now brought to submit to him, 
and to hear them sing the new song, entirely sur- 
passed all the victories of the most famous kings and 
generals of our world. 

" The work was by no means noisy, but rational, 
deep, and still. Poor sinners began to see that every 
thing in the Bible was true, that they were wholly 
sinful and in the hand of a sovereign God. The first 
you would know of persons under awakening was, 
that they would be at all the religious meetings, and 
manifest a silent and eager attention. What are 
called the hard sayings, such as the doctrines of total 



128 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

depravity, election, and the like, were well received. 
Those who were once angry when these things were 
preached, would cease to object when thoroughly con- 
victed, and rather smite on their breasts. 

" The work was now evidently on the increase. 
Conferences were set up in every part of the parish, 
and every week, sometimes every day, would bring 
the animating news of some one hopefully converted. 
Indeed, it seemed as if it would be impossible for any 
thing to stand before the power of God, and that 
every one must bow. However, dreadful experience 
proves, that natural men are really morally dead: 
they are harder than rocks, deafer than adders, and 
more stubborn than the sturdiest oaks. That which 
will break down the rocks, and tear up the obstinate 
oaks, will have no effect on the carnal mind. As 
this was the work of the omnipotent Spirit, so the 
effects produced proclaimed its sovereign and divine 
Author. One was taken here, and another there, and 
often those whom we should least expect. 

" One person gave me this account of his first 
awakening. ' I was returning on such an evening 
from a conference, where I had seen numbers under 
concern, and heard others speak of the love of God 
and of their hope in Christ. But nothing took hold 
of my mind until, as I was on my way home, these 
words sounded in my ears : ' Is it nothing to you, all 
ye that pass by?' These words were fixed in his 
mind, and he applied them thus : f Is it nothing to me, 
that my neighbors and those of my age are troubled 
about their sins, and some hopefully converted to 
God? Have I not sins to be troubled about, as well 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 129 

as they? And do I not also need conversion?' A few 
days after, he hoped that he had received a new heart 
from the ascended Saviour. 

" I have said that before the awakening, modern 
infidelity had made and was making alarming prog- 
ress among us. Some who had been infidels for 
years, are among the hopeful converts, and are labor- 
ing to build up the faith they once sought to destroy. 
I heard one of them say with trembling limbs, ' I am 
the wretch who have murdered Christ. I have talk- 
ed a great deal against the gospel, but there was 
always something in my heart which said it was 
true. 7 This poor man was almost in despair, but 
after a long season of distress, he found comfort. 

" At a certain conference in which the conversa- 
tion turned on the divine purposes, the subject was 
not attended to now for disputation, but with fear 
and solemnity. They did not appear to be dry, unin- 
teresting, disputable points, but divine realities calcu- 
lated to convict the sinner and refresh the saint. 

" At the close of the meeting a question was ask- 
ed of this import : ' Does a person who is truly seek- 
ing after God, feel afraid that any of his purposes 
will cut him off from salvation?' The question was 
answered in the negative ; that the divine purposes 
were no more against prayer, than against an atten- 
tion to common matters, and that the only reason 
why men brought them against prayer was, their hav- 
ing no heart to pray. 

" Thus I have given some account of the work of 
God among us. There were but few in the parish 
who were not in a measure solemn. Almost the 



130 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

whole conversation, when people were together in 
intermissions on the Sabbath, and on week-days, was 
on religion. Even companies on training-days were 
solemn. The number hopefully born into the king- 
dom of God is between sixty and seventy. 

" I might enlarge, but the time would fail. I have 
endeavored to state simple facts according to the 
best judgment of a fallible creature, with a mixture 
of joy and fear. When I find Peter, an apostle, de- 
ceived in Simon Magus, and hear him speaking of the 
faith of Sylvanus, using the cautious language, 'A 
faithful brother as I suppose ;' it makes me tremble for 
fear how we shall hold out. I desire to be thankful 
to God, that he has allowed me to stand and behold 
his glorious work, though I never felt so useless since 
I entered the ministry. God hath wrought, and to his 
name be all the glory." 

From Rev. Alvan Hyde, D. L\, Lee, Mass. 1792. 

It will be observed, that the revival here record- 
ed preceded by about six years the distinguished out- 
pouring of the Spirit on many churches, in 1798 and 
1799. In a letter to Dr. Sprague of Albany, pub- 
lished in the Appendix to his Lectures on Revivals, 
Dr. Hyde says : 

" The first season of ' refreshing from the presence 
of the Lord/ which this people enjoyed, commenced 
in June, 1792, a few days after the event of my ordi- 
nation. There was at this time- no religious excite- 
ment in this region of country, nor had I knowledge 
of there being a special work of God's grace in any 
part of the land. The church here was small and 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 131 

feeble, having only twenty-one male members. It 
was, however, a little praying band, and they were 
often together, like the primitive Christians, continu- 
ing with one accord in prayer. Immediately on being 
stationed here as a watchman, I instituted a weekly 
religious conference, to be holden on each Wednes- 
day, and in succession, at the various school-houses in 
the town. These were well attended in every dis- 
trict, and furnished me with favorable opportunities 
to instruct the people, and to present the truths of 
the gospel to the old and young in the most plain and 
familiar manner. This weekly meeting has been sus- 
tained to the present time, without losing any of its 
interest ; and when I have been at home, has carried 
me around the town as regularly as the weeks have 
returned. 

" With a view to form a still more particular ac- 
quaintance with the people committed to my charge, 
I early began to make family visits in different sec- 
tions of the town. These visits, of which I made a 
number in the course of a week, were improved whol- 
ly in conversing on the great subject of religion, and 
in obtaining, with as much correctness as I could, a 
knowledge of their spiritual state, that my instruc- 
tions on the Sabbath, and at the weekly meetings, 
might be better adapted to their case. This people 
had been for nine years without a pastor, and were 
unhappily divided in their religious opinions. And 
as they had been in the habit of maintaining warm 
disputes with each other on the doctrines of the Bible, 
I calculated on having to encounter many trials. Con- 
trary to my expectations, I found, on my first visits, 



132 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

many persons of different ages under serious and 
very deep impressions, each one supposing his own 
burdens and distresses of mind, on account of his 
sins, to be singular, not having the least knowledge 
that any others were awakened. It was evident that 
the Lord had come into the midst of us in the great- 
ness of his power, producing here and there, and 
among the young and old, deep conviction of sin. And 
yet it was a still small voice. A marvellous work 
was begun, and it bore the most decisive marks of 
being God's work. So great was the excitement, 
though not yet known abroad, that into whatever 
section of the town I now went, the people in that 
immediate neighborhood would leave their worldly 
employments at any hour of the day, and soon fill a 
large room. Before I was aware, and without any 
previous appointment, I found myself, on these occa- 
sions, in the midst of a solemn and anxious assembly. 
Many were in tears, and bowed down under the 
weight of their sins, and some began to rejoice in 
hope. These seasons were spent in prayer and ex- 
hortation, and in conversing with the anxious, and 
with such as had found relief by submitting them- 
selves to God, adapting my instruction to their re- 
spective cases. This was done in the hearing of all 
who were present. Being then a youth, who had 
seen but twenty-four years, and inexperienced, I felt 
weak indeed, and was often ready to sink under this 
vast weight of responsibility. But the Lord carried 
me along from one interesting scene to another. I 
was governed in my movements by what appeared to 
me to be the exigencies of the people. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 133 

"As yet there had been no public religious meet- 
ing, except on the Sabbath. A weekly lecture at 
the meeting-house was now appointed on Thursday; 
and though it was in the most busy season of the 
year, the house was filled. This lecture was con- 
tinued for more than six months, without any abate- 
ment of attention ; in sustaining which, I was aided 
by neighboring ministers, and by numbers from a dis- 
tance, who came to witness this display of sovereign 
grace. The former disputes of the people respecting 
religious sentiments, in a great measure, subsided, 
their consciences seeming to testify in favor of the 
truth. The work spread into every part of the town, 
and was especially powerful among those who had 
taken their stand in opposition to the small church, 
and the distinguishing doctrines of grace. Many of 
this class were convinced that they had always lived 
in error and darkness, and in a state of total aliena- 
tion from God. They were compelled, notwithstand- 
ing their former hatred of the prominent truths of 
the gospel, to make the interesting inquiry, What 
shall we do to be saved ? 

" The truths which I exhibited in my public dis- 
courses, and in the many meetings between the Sab- 
baths, were in substance the following : the holiness 
and immutability of God, the purity and perfection 
of his law ; the entire depravity of the heart, consist- 
ing in voluntary opposition to God and holiness ; the 
fulness and all-sufficiency of the atonement made by 
Christ; the freeness of the offer of pardon, made to 
all on condition of repentance ; the necessity of a 
change of heart by the Holy Spirit, arising from the 



134 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

deep-rooted depravity of men, which no created arm 
could remove; the utter inexcusableness of sinners 
in rejecting the kind overtures of mercy, as they acted 
freely and voluntarily in doing it • and the duty and 
resonableness of immediate submission to God. These 
are some of the truths which God appeared to own 
and bless, and which, through the agency of the Spir- 
it, were made ' quick and powerful, and sharper than 
any two-edged sword. 7 

"All our religious meetings were very much 
thronged, and yet were never noisy or irregular, nor 
continued to a late hour. They were characterized 
with a stillness and solemnity which, I believe, have 
rarely been witnessed. The converts appeared to 
renounce all dependence on their own doings, feeling 
themselves entirely destitute of righteousness, and 
that all their hope of salvation was in the mere mer- 
cy of God in Christ, to whom they were willing to 
be eternal debtors. 

"To the praise of sovereign grace, I may add that 
the work continued with great regularity, and little 
abatement, nearly eighteen months. In this time, as 
appears from the records of the church, one hundred 
and ten persons of different ages united themselves 
unto the Lord and his covenant people. All these 
were examined in the presence of the church, and 
were received on the ground of their professing to 
have experienced a change of heart, and to have 
passed from death unto life. They appeared to ex- 
hibit the fruits of the Spirit, and to exemplify the 
religion of Jesus in their subsequent lives. The in- 
stances of apostasy have been but few. Many of them 



NINETEENTH CENTUKY. 135 

have finished their course, and entered into the joy 
of their Lord. They gave evidence of enduring to 
the end, and of departing this life in the triumphs of 
faith. Others remain to this day, ' burning and shin- 
ing lights ■ in the church, some in this town, and some 
in the new settlements. 

"This revival of religion produced a surprising 
change in the religious sentiments and feelings of the 
people, and in the general aspect of the town. It 
effected a happy union ; a union which, to an unusual 
extent, has continued to the present time. After the 
shower of grace had passed over, divine influences 
were not altogether withholden, nor did the people 
lose their relish for religious meetings. Insulated 
conversions to the cross and standard of the Eedeem- 
er, strongly marked as being genuine, frequently 
occurred. In the six following years, forty-two were 
added to the church, including some who came from 
other churches." 

From Hev. Ammi R. Robbins of Norfolk, Conn. 

"It pleased the blessed God, in the year 1767, to 
afford some special tokens of his gracious presence to 
the peculiar joy of the precious few who loved Zion, 
and prayed for her prosperity. The influences of the 
Spirit seemed to be shed down in a remarkable man- 
ner. Many were struck with surprise, and numbers 
were impressed with a sense of their guilty and ru- 
ined state as sinners, and began to cry out, What 
must we do to be saved? But alas, it was of short 
continuance, as to its power and abiding influence. 
About ten or twelve joined themselves unto the Lord. 

"A second revival, if it may be so called, began 



136 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

in May, 1783, when some of God's people had been 
remarkably stirred up to pray for the outpouring of 
the Holy Spirit. Numbers were impressed in differ- 
ent parts of the town, without any knowledge of each 
other's circumstances. The seriousness became gen- 
eral, and the distress of many visible. As the fruits 
of this glorious work, there were added to the church 
in November twenty-seven, in January thirteen, and 
in March ten, making in all fifty : eighteen males, 
and thirty-two females. 

"In January, 1799, there were indications of a 
third revival. Our assemblies were more solemn and 
attentive. The religious people about this time hear- 
ing of some revivals in two or three other towns in 
the vicinity, were induced to hope and ardently pray 
that we might have a gracious visit also. In Febru- 
ary and March the attention became so general, that 
it was thought proper, at the desire of many, that 
religious conferences should be set up. They accord- 
ingly were in four, and sometimes five different parts 
of the town. A public lecture was also appointed to 
be preached every Thursday. Ministers from abroad 
generally preached on these occasions, and they were 
undoubtedly, by the blessing of God, the means of 
promoting the work. Yery early there were several 
persons who were struck with the sense of their mis- 
erable state and condition as sinners. They were 
influential and very popular men in town, and of very 
considerable information. They were, before this, 
very far from all appearance of religion, much inclin- 
ed to, and some far advanced in deistical sentiments, 
and those of the Universalists. These being hope- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 131 

fully subdued by an omnipotent arm, and becoming 
meek and humble in their deportment, gave a prodig- 
ious shock to others, especially their intimates. And 
they soon joined heart and hand to promote the work 
by conversing with others, attending and assisting at 
conferences ; and conducting with modesty, humility, 
and prudence, they were used as happy instruments 
of promoting and spreading the revival. 

"In June and July, the marvellous displays of 
divine power and grace were conspicuous beyond any 
thing of the kind we had ever witnessed. A univer- 
sal solemnity spread over the town, and seized the 
minds of almost all, both old and young. Great num- 
bers were bowed with a sense of the presence of the 
Lord. Some rejoicing and praising God, others cry- 
ing out in anguish of soul, 'What must we do?' Yet 
they were by no means noisy or boisterous, but were 
cut to the heart in silent distress. Almost every day 
we heard of one or more who had found relief, and 
new instances of persons impressed with a sense of 
their guilty, wretched, and undone state. Some ap- 
peared almost on the borders of despair, while others 
were complaining of a hard and obstinate heart, and 
that there could be no sinner on this side of hell so 
vile as they. As the fruit of this revival, fifty-nine 
males, and ninety-four females have been added to 
the church. Others, several others, entertained hopes, 
and we trust will come in hereafter. 

"Having given this brief sketch, I hope some re- 
marks may be useful to comfort God's people, and to 
animate them in praying and laboring for the promo- 
tion of Christ's kingdom. 



138 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

"1. It is of unspeakable importance that the means 
of grace be nsed with impenitent sinners. Jericho's 
walls must tumble down on the blowing of the ram's 
horns. Naaman must wash seven times in Jordan, 
that he may be cured of his leprosy. 

"2. Those doctrines which the world call hard 
sayings, are the most powerful means in the hands of 
the blessed Spirit to pull down and destroy Satan's 
strong-holds in the hearts of sinners. No preaching 
and conversation seems so effectual to drive them 
from their hiding places and refuges of lies, as to tell 
them plainly, that they are eternally undone if the 
mercy of God is not displayed in their favor ; that 
they have not the least claim on him, and if he does 
not have mercy, they are gone for ever; that they 
may as well despair of helping themselves first as 
last, and that the reason why they do not find relief, 
is merely because they will not yield, and bow to a 
holy sovereign God. 

"3. When the subjects of this work were hopeful- 
ly renewed, they were not usually sensible of it at 
the time : many of them not till days afterwards. 
They perceived indeed an alteration in their feelings 
and views, but did not entertain a thought that it 
was conversion. More generally they feared that 
God had left them, and that they had lost their con- 
victions. They had agreed in this, that it would be 
just in God to cast them off, whatever he should do 
with others. 

" One man, nearly fifty years of age, who has been 
a member of the church for many years, more than a 
year ago gave up his hope entirely — concluded there 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 139 

was no hope, no mercy for him — dared not come to 
the Lord's table, and was often filled with such agony 
that he could hardly attend to the concerns of his 
family. Now it is hoped that his captivity is turned. 
" Oh, let all who love our Lord Jesus Christ and 
his cause, join as he has taught us, and with unceas- 
ing importunity, devoutly and humbly pray, • \ Thy 
kingdom come ; thy will be done on earth, as it is in 
heaven.' " 

From Rev. Timothy M. Cooley, D. D., Granville, Mass. 
1798, 1799. 

" For a few months previous to the late revival, it 
was a time of great stupidity. Our youth had become 
much addicted to sinful diversions. In one of their 
scenes of amusement, God was pleased to frown upon 
them in a very awful manner. Two young men were 
seized violently ill, and carried out of the ball-cham- 
ber. A young woman, in consequence of a cold which 
she took on the same evening, was in a very short 
time taken with a fever and delirium, and brought to 
the brink of the grave. One of the young men, after 
a short illness, died. Being told by his weeping moth- 
er that he was dying, he replied with his expiring 
breath, ' Oh, I cannot die, I am unprepared.' These 
alarming dispensations of divine Providence rendered 
the minds of the young people solemn, and gave a 
check to their sinful pleasures. 

"In the spring of the year 1798, professors were 
much awakened and ardently desired a revival of 
religion. I invited a number of the youth into my 
study, and urged upon them the necessity of the one 
thing needful. This was a very solemn meeting, and 



140 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

will probably be long remembered by some who were 
present. 

" On the second Sabbath in June, a very plain 
sermon was preached from Ezek. 37 : 3, which was 
blessed to the awakening of a number of sinners. On 
Tuesday of the next week a number of young people 
met for a civil visit, and the violin was introduced, 
which instead of producing the usual hilarity, occa- 
sioned a flood of tears. The work of the Spirit, which 
had been for several days concealed, now burst forth. 
It was found that numbers had for some time felt a 
very serious concern for their future well-being, and 
thought they were alone in it, being ignorant of the 
feelings and resolutions of others. The glorious work 
spread with surprising rapidity through the parish. 
Christians were animated, sinners were awakened, 
and scoffers were struck silent at the powerful work 
of the Almighty. It was truly a remarkable season, 
and the most aged had never witnessed the like be- 
fore. A surprising change from apparent thought- 
lessness to universal alarm took place within two or 
three weeks. The rapidity of the work must be 
ascribed to the all-conquering influences of the Holy 
Spirit. 

" Those who were first impressed communicated 
their feelings and resolutions to their relatives and 
friends of a similar age, and urged them to join them 
in living a new life. These private warnings were 
the means of spreading the work. 

" Their views and feelings, while under conviction, 
were as follows : They encouraged themselves that by 
a few weeks of seriousness and diligence in duties, 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 141 

they should prepare themselves for regeneration. 
After persevering a while, they thought their prayers 
and cries had been sufficient to prevail with God to 
show them mercy. They secretly found fault with 
God for withholding his grace. The heart rose 
against divine sovereignty. Some thought hard of 
God for giving comfort to others, while he denied it 
to themselves. Such exercises discovered to them 
the total depravity of their hearts. They were before 
convinced that they had been guilty of many outward 
acts of sin, but now they saw something of the foun- 
tain of pollution within. They still persevered in 
duties, but seemed, as they expressed it, to grow 
worse and worse. They discovered that God's law 
justly condemned them, and that they must be rescued 
by sovereign mercy, or suffer its awful sanction. 

" The views and exercises of those who obtained 
hope, were as follows: There was a great diversity 
as to the manner in which divine light was let into 
the mind, and at the same time a wonderful similarity 
in their feelings after the admission of true light. 
Some obtained relief by a view of the glory and 
excellency of Christ; others were led to see the 
excellency of the gospel plan and its fitness for sin- 
ners ; others felt a happy and joyful submission to 
God as a sovereign, and were willing to be entirely 
in his hands. When God's time had come to show 
mercy, their opposition was subdued. They had new 
views of God, of the Saviour, of the Bible, and of 
Christian people. Old things had passed away ; be- 
hold, all things had become new. They felt a sweet 
calmness of mind, but in most instances had not a 



142 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

thought, at the time of it, that what they experienced 
was regeneration. It was sometimes several days 
before they dared to hope they were new creatures. 
They rejoiced with trembling. 

" The work of the Spirit has been remarkably free 
from enthusiasm and confusion. There have been no 
instances of outcries under conviction, nor of enthu- 
siastic rants of joy after receiving comfort. 

" This revival has been productive of the most 
happy effects. The Bible has been studied, and the 
distinguishing doctrines of the gospel more thorough- 
ly understood. God has discovered his sovereignty 
as well as his mercy among us. Some of the most 
gay and thoughtless have been hopeful converts, while 
others who are more sober and moral are passed by. 
In some instances almost whole families fled to the 
ark of safety. In one I found seven or eight, and in 
others five or six, who thought they could rejoice in 
G-od. "We had the pleasing sight of four sisters offer- 
ing themselves to unite with the church. 

" It is now three years since the beginning of this 
glorious work, and I can give a more ample testi- 
mony to its genuineness, than I could have done 
earlier. 'By their fruits ye shall know them.' Those 
who have made a profession of religion, and a num- 
ber of others who have not yet, appear to be stead- 
fast and unmovable, and their conversation is in a 
good measure agreeable to the gospel. Nearly one 
half of them are in youth. They in general appear 
to be ornaments to their profession, and by their 
presence at our sacramental table render the com- 
munion-season very delightful. ' The Lord hath done 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 143 

great things for us, whereof we are glad. 7 Let him 
have all the glory." 

From Rev. Joseph Washburn, Farm ington, Conn. 

"About the time of my ordination, in May, 1795, 
an uncommon attention and seriousness became ap- 
parent throughout the congregation. The divine 
influences came down like the* dew, and like the rain 
upon the mown grass, in still and gentle showers. 
The work was unattended with noise or enthusiasm ; 
it caused a general solemnity through the society, and 
met with little or no opposition. Within the course 
of about one year, fifty-five persons were added to 
the church. 

" In 1798, God began to appear in power and 
great glory, in a number of towns in this vicinity. 
Accounts of these things reached us, and became the 
subject of conversation among Christians, but ap- 
peared to have little or no effect. 

" The first appearance of special divine power and 
grace was in February, 1799. It began in an uncom- 
mon attention and concern among the people of God, 
and a disposition to unite in prayer for the divine 
presence and a revival of religion. 

" Soon after this, numbers in different parts of the 
congregation began to inquire respecting the meet- 
ings, and expressed a wish to attend. Persons of 
both sexes and of almost every age, and many from 
the distance of four or five miles, and some still fur- 
ther, were to be seen passing through storms and 
every other obstacle to attend the meetings. My 
house was also the almost daily resort of youth and 
others earnestly inquiring respecting the things of 



144 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

their peace. Those of the youth who were seriously 
impressed, now reflected on their former gayety, 
vanity, and sinful amusements with bitterness and 
entire disapprobation. An attempt which was made 
soon after the awakening commenced, to introduce 
a dancing-master, rather forwarded than checked the 
work on the minds of those who had been brought 
under serious impressions. The open opposition also, 
which was made by some, had a similar effect. It 
convinced them more and more that madness is in 
the heart of man, and that God is just in condemn- 
ing sinners, and casting them off for ever. Sixty-one 
have been admitted to the church in a year, from 
August, 1799, to August, 1800. 

" In the first stages of concern the subjects of this 
work were generally most affected with particular 
sins, and not so deeply sensible of the plague of their 
own hearts. But as their convictions increased, they 
obtained a clearer view of the spiritual nature and 
extent of the divine law, and a more realizing sense 
of the corruption of their hearts. Generally, when 
under deep conviction, they in a greater or less de- 
gree experienced sensible enmity and opposition of 
heart against the character of God, particularly his 
sovereignty in having mercy on whom he will have 
mercy. In several instances God permitted the en- 
mity and obstinacy of the carnal heart to be manifest- 
ed in an awful manner, and to an astonishing degree. 
While conscience like a gnawing worm preyed upon 
them within, a view of the divine character and the 
way of salvation proposed in the gospel, excited the 
enmity of their hearts, and every instance in which 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 145 

they saw any of their friends and acquaintance brought 
apparently to embrace the gospel, filled them with a 
kind of envy, with a pain which they could not 
describe. 

" With respect to the manner and circumstances 
in which the hopeful converts obtained relief, and the 
degree of their joy and peace, there has been a variety. 
Some few were very suddenly relieved from their 
distress, and filled with adoring and admiring views 
of God and the divine Saviour. But the greater part 
were brought gradually to entertain a hope that they 
were reconciled to God. The hopeful converts in 
general have appeared very far from a disposition to 
think highly of themselves or their attainments, and 
they were ready to hope the best of others, to pro- 
mote the good of all, to discharge relative and social 
duties, to attend carefully upon all the institutions 
of religion, and to manifest a tender regard for the 
salvation of souls and the advancement of the cause 
of God in the world." 

From Rev. Samuel Shephard, D. D., Lenox, Mass. 1799. 

" I cannot learn from any of the first settlers, that 
there has ever been any remarkable revival of relig- 
ion in this town, until the month of June, 1799. At 
the time of my ordination, in April, 1795, almost all 
the members of the church were bowing under the 
infirmities of age. No person who was then in early 
life belonged to it. Not a single young person had 
been received into it in the course of sixteen years. 
Well might this church, like God's ancient covenant 
people when they sat in captivity by the waters of 
Babylon, hang its harps upon the willows, for it seem- 

Rev. Sketches, *J 



146 ■ REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ed indeed that when the few who were rapidly has- 
tening down the vale of years should be removed, 
the name of Jesus in the holy ordinance of the supper 
would scarcely be had in remembrance. 

"Such were the melancholy prospects of this 
church in the spring of 1799, while showers of divine 
grace were falling on other parts of Zion. But in 
the month of April, several members of the church 
manifested great anxiety about the state of religion 
among us, and expressed a desire that meetings might 
be appointed for religious conference, and special 
prayer for the outpouring of the Spirit. It was done, 
and the second meeting was unusually solemn. At 
the third, persons came together from every part of 
the town. The divine authority of the Scriptures 
was made the subject of conversation, and the appear- 
ance of the assembly was truly affecting. Sinners 
were brought to tremble in view of eternity, and pro- 
fessors of religion were animated, and rendered fer- 
vent in prayer. From that time the work became 
more general. There was an increasing attention 
among the young and the old for several months. 

" On the twentieth of October, twenty-four persons 
were received into the church. This was with us a 
memorable day. But a small part of the congrega- 
tion had ever before seen a young person brought in. 
The language of the church to the spectators of the 
scene then passing before them, was, 'We are jour- 
neying to the place of which the Lord said, I will 
give it you. Come thou with us, and we will do thee 
good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning 
Israel.' The infidel and the abandoned man stood 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 141 

appalled, and to the friends of Zion the season afford- 
ed a prelibation of heavenly joys. The whole num- 
ber who have been received into the church since the 
work began, is fifty-three. Almost two-thirds are 
females. I will close this general account with a 
few particular remarks. 

"1. This revival was evidently the work of God. 
To prove this, the very sudden change in the appear- 
ance and pursuits of the people, is instead of a thou- 
sand arguments. 

"2. The revival began in the church, as I believe 
is almost always the case when God pours out his 
Spirit. 

"3. Such a revival strikingly evinces the impor- 
tance of all the means of grace which God has insti- 
tuted. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
word of God. 

"4. The work has been attended with remarkable 
regularity. God was emphatically in ' the still small 
voice/ No dreams and visions, no hearing unusual 
voices, and seeing uncommon sights, no extravagance 
even in gestures or outcries, appeared. 

"5. Among those in this town who have been 
awakened to attend to religious truth, a remarkable 
uniformity has occurred relative to the doctrines 
which have been embraced, such as the total and 
awful depravity of the human heart, the necessity of 
regeneration or a change of heart as a preparation 
for the enjoyment of a holy heaven, the equity of the 
divine law in its penalty as well as precept, the di- 
vine sovereignty in the salvation of sinners as the 
only possible ground of hope, the necessity of gospel 



148 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

morality as an evidence of justifying faith, and all 
the doctrines essentially connected with these, were 
readily received by all with one consent. 

" May a holy God, in infinite mercy, continue to 
make manifest the glory of his power, and the glory 
of his grace in building up Zion ; for in no other way 
can we rationally hope to see happy individuals, hap- 
py families, happy neighborhoods, happy societies, 
happy towns, happy states, happy kingdoms, and a 
happy world." 

From Rev. Alexander Grillett, Torrington, Conn. 1798. 

" The first special appearance of the work among 
us, was on Wednesday evening, December 26, 1798, 
when two lectures were preached by neighboring 
ministers, one in the afternoon, and the other in the 
evening. The friends of Zion present appeared to 
receive a fresh anointing from the Lord, and to be 
awakened to a sense of their duty. Some sinners who 
had labored heretofore under fears about their spirit- 
ual state, were more deeply and thoroughly impress- 
ed, and brought to inquire in earnest, ' What must we 
do to be saved?' Thus the important scene opened, 
which has been truly wonderful, and expressive of 
divine power and grace. 

"The work gradually increased from that time 
till May and June ensuing. A goodly number, we 
charitably hope, were made the subjects of the con- 
victing and transforming operations of the Spirit of 
God. Forty-five have come forward, and been added 
to the church: twenty young persons from fourteen 
years and upward, nine males, and eleven females. 
The proportion of the whole number is seventeen 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 149 

males, and twenty-eight females. Thirty more have 
expressed a hope that they have been born again. 

"It was wonderful to see what pains persons took 
to attend lectures and conferences. They would go 
through storms, cold, and bad roads, to attend the 
meetings. The impression was so great and exten- 
sive, and the work so new and unusual, that for a 
time the adversary was confounded. Opposers had 
their mouths shut, and stood gazing and wondering. 
There had been complaints heretofore of irregulari- 
ties and enthusiasm, but this work was marked with 
the ' still small voice/ When comfort was obtained, 
it did not seem to arise from mere impressions on 
the imagination, but from such a view of God and 
divine things as they never before experienced. 

"Previous to the new birth, the subjects of the 
work have had clear convictions of the native deprav- 
ity of their hearts. Some have been sensible of such 
shocking feelings as these : ' Oh, how I wish there was 
no God, heaven, or hell. I would rather be like the 
beasts that perish, than be in the hands of such a God 
as this!' After they had experienced the great change, 
they appeared to themselves to be worse than before. 
They would exclaim, 'I thought I knew something 
of my heart before, but I knew nothing of it. How 
can I be a Christian ? Can I be a new creature, and 
have my heart filled with so many vain thoughts and 
strange imaginations V 

"Another conspicuous feature of the work is, that 
when God had taken off a distressful burden, they at 
first had no suspicions of their hearts being renewed. 
They were rather alarmed at the apprehension that 



150 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

the Spirit of God had forsaken them. They were 
ready to cry out, .'I wish I could feel as concerned 
for myself as I have done, but I cannot.' While in 
this state, they have been asked how the character of 
God appeared. They readily answered, ' Great, excel- 
lent, glorious; there is none like him. I can't wish 
for any other Saviour besides Jesus Christ, or any 
other way to be saved but that of the gospel.' 

"The doctrines made use of in carrying on this 
work, are another distinguishing feature of it. They 
are the soul-humbling doctrines of the cross, which 
exalt God, and stain all the pride of human glory. 
The divine sovereignty, the holiness, extent, and in- 
flexibility of the moral law, human depravity, our 
entire dependence on God, the special agency of the 
Holy Spirit in conviction and conversion, and mere 
grace through Jesus Christ as the Mediator — these 
have been kept constantly in view, and proved like 
the fire and the hammer that breaketh the flinty rock 
in pieces. It has been common for awakened sinners 
to think hard of election and unconditional submis- 
sion, and to struggle for a while against them; but 
they were finally brought to a thorough conviction 
that these doctrines, which were so terrible to them, 
were their only hope." 

From Rev. Joshua Williams, Harwinton, Conn. 1799. 

" In the latter part of January and the beginning 
of February, 1799, our meetings for public worship 
were very full and more solemn than I had ever seen 
before. On Friday, in the second week of February, 
a lecture was preached ; the congregation was very 
large, and the effects of the word were very visible. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 151 

Another was preached in the evening, and it is be- 
lieved that on this and the two succeeding days more 
than a hundred persons were awakened, and many of 
them feelingly convicted of their total depravity 
of heart, and absolute helplessness. It is not in my 
power to describe the anxiety which appeared in 
many. The more they saw of themselves, the more 
they were convinced of their desert of endless misery. 
Sleep almost fled from their eyes, and when they went 
about the necessary concerns of life, their spirits were 
loaded with sorrow and distress. Danger appeared 
on all sides, and, * What must I do?' was a constant 
and earnest inquiry. 

u Some were wrought upon very suddenly, and so 
as to make it evident that it was not of themselves, 
or of man, but of God. From the 14th to the 20th 
of April, there were eighteen instances of hopeful 
conversion. Several were brought under distressing 
conviction at midnight on their beds, and many in 
such circumstances that it could not be accounted for 
on any principle but the sovereign power and mercy 
of God. At this time the labor of preaching was 
easy indeed, but to detect the false hope to which 
many were prone, was a difficult and critical business. 
Never did I feel my own insufficiency so much as at 
this period. On the one hand not to wound the 
lambs of Christ's flock, and on the other not to en- 
courage unfounded hopes, required the utmost cau- 
tion and diligence. My usual practice was, if upon 
examination I found marks of a false hope, to tell 
the matter plainly. But if there were symptoms 
of a well-founded hope, I told them they must prove 



152 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

it to be genuine by their future holy conduct, always 
remembering that the heart is deceitful above all 
things. In July, fifty-six were added on one Sabbath 
to the church ; in September, twenty-four more, and 
several others at different times ; making the whole 
number one hundred." 

From R,ev. Moses Hallock, Plainfield, Mass., to Rev. Jere- 
miah Hallock, June 3, 1798. 

"lam unwilling to miss the present opportunity 
to write to you, especially as the tidings I am about 
to convey are so glorious. It has been my favored 
lot to see several awakenings, but the present dis- 
plays of divine power and grace far exceed what I 
ever before saw. At least fifty have been hopefully 
born of God here within a few months. And be- 
sides these, several persons appear to have obtained 
clear and comfortable evidence of their good estate, 
who, till these happy days, were in great doubt. The 
church seems to be greatly quickened. There are so 
many demonstrative proofs that the work is the work 
of G-od, that next to none pretend to gainsay it. I 
believe there is not a man in the town that openly 
opposes. None have joined the church yet, but twen- 
ty-four stand propounded. Several of these appeared 
to be Christians before the awakening, but dared not 
make a public profession till now. Twenty-two have 
told their experience in the meeting-house — seventeen 
last Friday, and five to-day — before a crowded and 
solemn assembly. They will probably be received 
on the first Sabbath of July, and sit down with the 
church at the Lord's table ; and I expect that a num- 
ber more will offer themselves before that time. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 153 

"There are two young men whose conviction has 
been unusually long and clear, who have received 
comfort within these few weeks. At some times they 
almost appeared in despair. I heard one of them say, 
with trembling limbs, ' Oh the eternity of misery that 
is before me/' For a considerable time before they 
hopefully submitted to the divine and sovereign will, 
they saw and confessed the enmity of their hearts to 
God, and how just he would be in sending them to 
everlasting punishment. They told me that they felt 
most obstinately opposed to the way of life by Jesus 
Christ, and were it not that they believed in election 
they should be in despair. These two are men of 
bright natural parts and considerable reading, and 
bid fair to be pillars in the church some future day. 
These, with most of the others who have told their 
experience, spoke of terrible opposition of heart to 
God and clear views of his justice before regenera- 
tion, and how captivated and charmed they after- 
wards were both with the divine justice and mercy. 
Let God have all the glory." 

From Hev. Asahel Hooker, Groshen, Conn. 1799. 

" Sundry persons, whose knowledge of the subject 
is correct, have informed me that, previous to my 
settlement in this place, there never was any remark- 
able and extensive revival of religion among the peo- 
ple ; and since I came here, almost nine years ago, 
things have remained in a most unpromising state 
till about the middle of February, 1799. That period 
was rendered memorable by the commencement of a 
work, the happy fruits of which are still apparent, 
and which I trust will be lasting as eternity. From 



154 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

small beginnings it made such progress in a few 
weeks as to have arrested general attention, while 
great numbers were under the most serious and im- 
pressive sense of their forlorn state as sinners. Pub- 
lic worship on the Sabbath and all other meetings 
were unusually attended, both as to numbers and seri- 
ousness. It was not long before several persons 
manifested a hope of having passed from death unto 
life. In the month of September, twenty-five per- 
sons were admitted to the church ; in November, forty- 
eight ; in January, four ; making, in the whole, seventy- 
seven. A considerable number remain who exhibit 
the usual evidence of a new heart, who have not 
made a public profession of their faith. The change 
which has been wrought in many, is great and won- 
derful. It is the Lord's doing, and marvellous in our 
eyes. 

"The following brief statement will enable the 
candid and impartial to judge for themselves whether 
indeed it is the Lord's work. 

"1. Numbers were deeply impressed before they 
knew that others were in like circumstances. Often 
without the intervention of any means which could be 
distinctly recollected, the truth and reality of eternal 
things were brought home and fastened upon their 
minds with a sort of irresistible and impressive 
weight, pointing them to the vast importance of flee- 
ing from the wrath to come. 

" 2. The first impressions on the minds of those 
who were subjects of the work, did not in common 
consist chiefly of fears of future punishment. Their 
deepest and most painful impressions arose from con- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 155 

vietions of sin, by which they were at variance with 
themselves, and by which it was awfully realized to 
them, that ' there is no peace to the wicked/ Those 
who became eventually reconciled to the truth, and 
found a comfortable hope of their good estate, were 
led to such an acquaintance with the plague of their 
own hearts as convinced them, that if saved it must 
be not by righteousness which they had done or could 
do, but 'by the washing of regeneration and renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost' 

"3. It is worthy of particular notice as a dis- 
tinguishing feature of the work, that the hopeful sub- 
jects of its saving effects, notwithstanding their fore- 
going prejudices and opposition, have come uniformly 
and with one consent into the great distinguishing 
doctrines of grace. These are the doctrines which 
seem to have been specially owned and blessed by the 
Holy Spirit, and thence made the wisdom of God to 
the salvation of sinners. 

" 4. A considerable number had been more or less 
immoral and irreligious in their visible conduct. 
Several who were scoffers at the serious and uni- 
versal strictness of pure religion, were among the 
hopeful subjects of genuine conviction and of saving 
mercy. A few who had endeavored to fortify them- 
selves against fears of the wrath to come in the belief 
of universal salvation, were convinced that they had 
made lies their refuge. 

"5. It is not common for those who entertain a 
hope for themselves, to be very confident of their title 
to salvation. There are few, if any, but seem at times 
to doubt whether their names are written in heaven. 



156 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

"Whether all those who appear to have set out and to 
run well for the present, will hold on their way and 
obtain the prize of their high calling, must be finally 
known by the event." 

From Rev. Ira Hart, Waterbnry, in Middlebury, Conn. 
1799, 1800. 

" This society is but lately formed, and I am the 
first settled minister. While, when I came, every 
thing else appeared favorable, the spirit and power 
of vital piety seemed almost gone. Several cases of 
discipline existed in the church, which lay upon the 
brethren as a heavy burden. All saw and acknow- 
ledged the evil, and longed to have it removed ; but 
in the general inactivity and discouragement, nothing 
effectual had been done. The church appeared timid, 
and some of the enemies of the cross exulted and cast 
reproach. But our sinful fears were not realized. 
Christ the great Head of the church caused the 
sweet influences of his grace to break forth when we 
expected trouble and disunion. 

" Returning home from some places where there 
were revivals, I was impressed with the idea that 
nothing so effectually kept off the divine blessing as 
our neglect of those cases of discipline. The church 
were urged to proceed immediately, and were con- 
vinced that reformation must begin at the house of 
God." 

[He goes on to show how this movement was 
blessed in bringing the church up from its depression, 
and awakening sinners to their danger.] 

" This interposition of God/*' he says, " was too 
striking to pass unnoticed. It showed to the church 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 151 

and to all, that the way of duty is the way of safety, 
and the way in which divine blessings are usually 
obtained. The friends of Zion awoke, and their hearts 
and mouths began to be open on the subject of relig- 
ion. Cases of conviction soon occurred in different 
parts of the society. Our lectures were seriously and 
solemnly attended. The Sabbath was a solemn day. 
Professors confessed with tears their shortcomings 
in duty. They looked back with grief and wonder 
upon themselves, and were melted down with contri- 
tion before God. The aged and the young- were 
agreed in saying, ' It was never so seen in Israel.' 

"As several of the first cases of conviction were 
among the youth, some of them were opposed to it, as 
calculated to destroy their amusements. One young 
man began profanely to ridicule those who were un- 
der distress of mind ; but as he entered the gallery 
on the Sabbath, God met and pierced him with a 
sharp arrow of conviction. He stumbled to a seat, 
and amid the horrors of a guilty awakened con- 
science, sat trembling in view of truth and the awful 
iniquity of his heart, and soon after testified to the 
excellency of that Saviour and that religion which 
he before despised. This struck the young people as 
an admonition from heaven. They gave up their vain 
amusements, crowded to conferences and lectures, and 
a goodly number of them have, as we hope, been turn- 
ed from darkness to light. It was indeed a glorious 
season, which will long be remembered by many as 
the time of their espousals to Christ. 

" Considering the importance of a right judgment 
of ourselves, and the extreme danger of those who 



158 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

settle down on a false profession, I judged it not 
proper to encourage those who had obtained hopes, 
to a sudden union with the church. The duty of self- 
examination and a comparison of their views and 
exercises with God's word were strongly urged, that 
they might not come to the gospel feast without a 
wedding garment. None were admitted till the sum- 
mer of 1800, when at different times thirty-five were 
received, and six have since been admitted. The 
awakening has embraced persons of almost all ages, 
from fifteen to sixty-five. Excepting seventeen young 
persons, the rest were mostly young heads of families. 
This gives a hopeful prospect that the rising genera- 
tion will more extensively enjoy the great blessings 
of family prayer and religious instruction. 

"The sovereignty of God has been eminently dis- 
played in this revival. Not those whom we expected, 
but those whom God pleased, were called to repent- 
ance. One is taken and another left. 

" From what God has done for us, it is thought all 
churches may learn the importance and safety of faith- 
fully maintaining the discipline which Christ has es- 
tablished. If it is conducted with the prudence, vigi- 
lance, and brotherly love which the cases require, 
the blessing of God may be confidently expected. 

" One remark more. It was common for those 
ander serious impressions to have much opposition to 
the doctrines of grace, particularly the justice of God 
in the eternal punishment of the finally impenitent, 
divine sovereignty, and the electing love of God, but 
they found no peace till those doctrines were made 
the foundation of their hope. When reconciled to 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 159 

him through the merits of his Son, they expressed 
great surprise that they had never understood these 
plain gospel truths before, or seen their excellency 
and beauty." . 

From Rev. Ebenezer Porter, D. D., Washington, Conn., after- 
wards Professor in the Theol. Sem., Andover. 1803. 

" Though this church had enjoyed a preached gos- 
pel with very little interruption since its formation, 
a period of sixty-four years, nothing that could prop- 
erly be termed a revival of religion had ever taken 
place till the present. Many families had no altar 
for God. Many parents seemed to behold their dear 
offspring going in the ways that lead to destruction, 
without uttering one warning, or offering one prayer 
for their eternal salvation. Out of the church was 
to be seen a general carelessness ; in it a spirit of deep 
slumber, a want of discipline, a want of brotherly 
love — a want of every thing almost, but cold, cold pro- 
fession. 

" There was a glimmering hope of better things 
for a short time, in the winter of 1801. A weekly 
church conference was attended regularly about two 
months, when it declined till it entirely ceased. It 
seemed as though an offended God was about to seal 
us up under a holy rebuke : ■ Sleep on now, and take 
your rest/ That the only hope is the sovereign mer- 
cy of God, I had long believed, but had never so 
deeply felt before. Means, however, were not to be 
neglected. 

"Early in the summer of 1802, special meetings 
were appointed for the youth. These meetings were 
attended every other week, in the form of a theologi- 



160 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

cal school. At each meeting, a question in the order 
of a system was given, accompanied with an extem- 
pore lecture, or with notice that a sermon would be 
adapted to the subject on the following Sabbath. At 
the meeting succeeding that on which the question 
was given, the papers that had been written by the 
youth were received and read publicly. These papers 
were so received as to have the author of each one 
unknown to every other. With the same precaution 
they were returned. These meetings succeeded, to 
my joy and astonishment. They substituted solid 
improvement for the ordinary levities of young peo- 
ple. They excited a relish for profitable conversa- 
tion, reading, and reflection ; they furnished the mind 
with useful ideas, rendered the more permanent by 
the labor of acquiring them; and what is more and 
most important of all, they opened an avenue for the 
solemn influence of truth, by a divine blessing, to 
reach the conscience and the heart. A respectable 
number usually attended on these occasions, and twelve 
or fifteen wrote on the same question. It was sur- 
prising to witness the progress made by them, not 
only in correct writing, but in doctrinal knowledge. 

"Near the close of the summer of 1803, several 
persons became seriously impressed. Weekly confer- 
ences were revived. During the winter, the opera- 
tions of the divine Spirit were discernible in every 
part of the society. The church, which had appeared 
to languish as with a wasting hectic, put on the aspect 
of returning health. Through the next spring and 
summer, though thirteen had been added to the church, 
we were still between hope and fear. God's people 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 161 

longed for, rather than expected a revival. They 
scarcely dared to believe that the day had indeed 
dawned which was to succeed a night of more than 
sixty years. But in the autumn, the Sun of righteous- 
ness arose upon us with healing in his wings. As in 
the valley of Ezekiel's vision, there was a great shak- 
ing. Dry bones, animated by the breath of the Al- 
mighty, stood up new-born believers. The children 
of Zion beheld with overflowing hearts, and with 
thankful tongues acknowledged, 'This is the finger 
of God.' The work was stamped conspicuously with 
the impress of its divine author, anddts joyful effects 
evinced no other than the agency of Omnipotence. So 
manifestly was it the work of God, that opposition^ 
however it might have rankled in the bosoms of indi- 
viduals, was awed into silence. Many old professors, 
amidst the majesty and glory of the scene, seemed 
unable to contain, and equally unable to express the 
wonder and joy of their hearts. During a winter 
unusually severe, nothing could surpass the resolution 
with which numbers attended, to be instructed in the 
way of salvation. From the extremity of the season, 
apprehensions were entertained for persons of deli- 
cate constitutions; but the people were seldom or 
never more healthy. 

■ • As the first-fruit of this precious and memorable 
season, fifty-four persons have been added to the 
church, none of whom, blessed be God, have been left 
to discredit their holy profession. 

" It would be more important to delineate partic- 
ularly the nature and fruits of this work, did it not 
bear so strong an affinity in these respects to the 



162 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

revivals already described. "Without an exception, 
its special subjects were calm in their exercises, and 
embraced that system of religious sentiments com- 
monly acknowledged and received in our churches. 

" From the commencement of this work to its visi- 
ble decline was more than eighteen months, and meet- 
ings, though frequent, seemed not at all to interfere 
with necessary temporal avocations. An increased 
industry could easily redeem the time devoted to this 
purpose from unprofitable or foolish pursuits. 

" Before this revival more than ordinary attention 
had been paid to the rising generation, and of the 
number added to the church about three-fourths had 
sprung from professing parents. Besides the meet- 
ings of the young people, the church as a church has 
appointed a catechizing committee to teach the chil- 
dren. These catechizings have since been regularly 
attended during the summer season between the ser- 
vices on every other Sabbath. 

"While infidelity is searching out every avenue 
for infusing its deadly poison into the minds of the 
young, is it not a matter of surprise that their relig- 
ious instruction should not have had more share in 
the thoughts, the conversation, and the prayers of 
God's people ? Do not the signs of the times summon 
ministers and Christians generally to exertions more 
united, and more correspondent with an object of 
such acknowledged and immense importance?' 7 

From Judge Reeve of Litchfield, Conn., to Judge Boudinot 
of Newark, New Jersey. 

" In the astonishing scene that has been passing 
at Litchfield, there has been a great diversity in such 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 163 

as were awakened to a serious concern as to their 
immortal interests, and at length have obtained a 
hope that they have passed from death to life. All 
had a sensible conviction of the depravity of their 
hearts, and saw that this depravity was odious and 
criminal, for which they deserved to experience the 
penalties of a righteous law, which they had broken 
in innumerable instances, and all agreed in choosing 
to be in the hands of God; but there was a wide 
difference in the degree of distress which took place 
previous to experiencing that submission of will to 
God which all felt. While some felt a violent oppo- 
sition of heart to the law and government of a holy 
God, it was scarcely perceivable in others. Some 
were in distress but a few days before they received 
relief, while others remained in sorrow for many 
months. Instances of sudden transition from deep 
distress to great joy, were comparatively few. In 
most cases the subjects of this work who eventually 
obtained hope of their good estate, after having felt 
great anxiety of mind, and a deep sense of the odious- 
ness of their character in the sight of God, and a 
thorough conviction that it would be just in him to 
cast them off for ever, seemed to lose their anxiety 
about themselves, and it was a common thing for 
them to complain that they were becoming stupid 
and had lost their convictions. Yet during this state 
of their supposed stupidity, it was remarkable that 
their sense of the corruption of their hearts greatly 
increased, they no longer felt any opposition to the 
character of God, but on the contrary, it appeared to 
them glorious because he was a sin-hating God, while 



164 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

at this time they had no apprehension that their 
hearts were changed; and while their Christian 
friends entertained the strongest hopes that they 
were new creatures, they left them to their own re- 
flections without informing them of their opinion con- 
cerning them. When they began to hope, it was with 
much trembling, and they gradually advanced to a 
steady comfortable hope with great caution and much 
self-examination. This has been the most usual meth- 
od, though there have been some remarkable instances 
of persons passing from the most pungent distress to 
the most elevated joys, and I have never heard of a 
case where confidence has arisen through the medium 
of dreams, visions, or texts of Scripture coming sud- 
denly into their minds." 

Reply of Judge Boudiuot to Judge R. e e v e . 

" If I was to copy your letter, and return it as 
from myself, it would be almost in every particular 
what has passed here. About six years ago, when 
our worthy pastor Mr. Griffin first came to this 
place, we had a revival of religion among us, and 
about a hundred and thirty were added to the church. 
After that had declined we were rather in a dull 
state, which in August last was very low. The ad- 
ministration of the Lord's supper was to take place 
on the first Sabbath of September. On the Sabbath 
preceding, it was recommended to the church to keep 
the Friday on which the preparatory lecture was to 
be preached as a day of humiliation, fasting, and 
prayer that God would pour out his Spirit and revive 
his work. If ever the verity of the words of sacred 
writ, ' Before they call I will answer, and while they 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 165 

are yet speaking I will hear/ was proved, it was in 
this instance. The meeting was unusually full, the 
Sabbath was peculiarly solemn. On Monday, our 
worthy pastor went out in the morning to visit in the 
neighborhood, without the least suspicion that any 
thing more than common had taken place, when, to 
his astonishment, in every house into which he enter- 
ed, the family appeared like Cornelius of old, ready 
to receive the words of truth, and soon melted into 
tears. The flame at once caught the hearts of the 
truly pious among us. The next Sabbath morning 
a number agreed to form a society to meet at nine 
o'clock, and spend an hour previous to going to 
church in prayer to God, for his blessing on the 
word. They styled themselves the Aaron and Hur 
Society, as supporting the hands of their minister. 
It was not long before the blessed work pervaded 
every part of the congregation. No age was ex- 
empted. We have had instances of persons between 
sixty and eighty, some of whom had led what they 
called moral lives, and trusted they were going to 
heaven, who were brought to see that instead of be- 
ing ' rich and increased in goods, and having need of 
nothing/ they were ' wretched and miserable and poor 
and blind and naked.' Others who had never troub- 
led themselves about any of these things, were made 
to cry out in the bitterness of their spirit, ' What 
shall we do to be saved V 

" The operations of the divine Spirit have been as 
variable as with you. Take your own description, 
and you have ours correctly/ 7 



166 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Rev. Dr. Baldwin, Boston, and Rev. Messrs. Ledoyt and 
Seamans, Jfew Hampshire. 1790-1803. 

About the time that Dr. Baldwin commenced his 
labors in the Second Baptist church, Boston, in 1790, 
" a revival began in which not far from seventy were 
added to his church, and. about the same number to 
the First church. Another revival began in 1803, 
and continued more than two years, in which about 
two hundred were brought into his church, and about 
two hundred also into the First church. 

The Rev. Mr. Ledoyt of Newport, N. H., wrote, 
in 1793, " It has been a long, dark, and cloudy night 
with me and the people here • but, glory to our God, 
the cloud is dispersing fast. His work is begun 
among us. Newport and Croydon are greatly blessed. 
I have baptized twenty-nine in four weeks. The work 
appears to be going on." 

In 1792, a work began in New London, N. H., 
of which Rev. Mr. Seamans wrote, " This town con- 
sists of about fifty families, and I hope that between 
forty and fifty souls have been translated out of dark- 
ness into God's marvellous light, besides a number in 
Sutton and Fishersfield who congregate with us. Fif- 
teen have joined the church, and I expect that a num- 
ber more will come forward in a short time. We 
have lectures or conferences almost every day or 
evening in the week. Our very children meet to- 
gether to converse and pray with each other. Some 
things in this work have exceeded every thing I ever 
saw before. Convictions have usually been very 
clear and powerful, so that industrious men and 
women have had neither inclination nor strength to 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 16? 

follow their business as usual. And they freely 
acknowledge the justice and sovereignty of God. 
They also have desires beyond what I have ever 
before known for the universal outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit." 

" This work continued, and the next year the 
church, which, at its commencement, consisted of only 
eighteen members, had increased to a hundred and 
fifteen. Some of all ages, from seventy down to eight 
years old, had been brought in; and what was re- 
markable, there were at that time in this church, 
thirty-seven men and their wives." 

From Rev. Dr. Wood, Boscawen, N. H., to Rev. Dr. Justin 
E dwards. 

" When I entered on my ministry in this town, in 

1781, the church consisted of but twenty members in 
all, and the state of religion around wore a very 
gloomy aspect. A revival of religion had hardly 
been known. In consequence of our first revival, in 

1782, which added to the church between thirty and 
forty heads of families, I was abundantly called 
upon to labor in the neighboring towns ; and as the 
doctrines of grace had been but little inculcated, the 
churches were in a very low and formal state. In a 
number of instances I witnessed a change in senti- 
ment, and a revival of the spirit of religion, which 
the work that the Lord had wrought among my peo- 
ple served greatly to strengthen and increase, till 
nearly the whole vicinity became revolutionized. 

" When I entered on the ministry, I reflected with 
myself that if I should labor all my days, and be in- 
strumental of the salvation of one soul, that would be 



168 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

more than an ample reward. But now I may say, 
that goodness and mercy have attended me. Since 
I came here we have been favored with seven or 
eight seasons of the special outpouring of the Spirit ; 
the two first and the two last were very powerful, 
Since my settlement about four hundred and thirty 
have been added to the church, and I should suppose 
that three hundred of those have been or now are 
heads of families." 

Dr. Wood, in a small inland congregation, fitted 
for college nearly one hundred students, thirty-seven 
of whom, in 1823, had entered the ministry, and 
others were studying in preparation. About thirty 
obtained a hope in Christ while residing in his fam- 
ily, and a number who there received religious im- 
pressions, afterwards joined themselves to the people 
of God. 

From Uev. Jesse Edson. Halifax, Vermont, August, 1802. 

"The first appearances of the revival began in the 
church: professors seemed to awake from their stu- 
pidity and coldness. The spirit of prayer was poured 
out upon them, and from this time there began to be 
a visible shaking among the dry bones, and a few 
individuals were raised to spiritual life. The Holy 
Spirit seemed to come down like a rushing, mighty 
wind, to melt the souls of God's children, to cause 
sinners to tremble, stubborn wills to bow, and hard 
hearts to relent. Numbers flocked to Christ as a 
cloud, and as doves to their windows. Fifteen were 
received the next communion, twenty-one the commun- 
ion following ; about sixty, in the whole. They were 
of different ages from above fifty down to fifteen years. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 169 

" The work was remarkably free from enthusiasm 
and disorder, and accompanied with a great sense of 
the evil of sin. The subjects of the work were led 
to see themselves destitute of any righteousness of 
their own to recommend them to God ; that they 
were totally depraved, deserving nothing from God 
but everlasting misery, and entirely dependent on 
sovereign grace to pluck them as brands from the 
burning. The doctrines to which some of them had 
been particularly opposed, became sweet and ravish- 
ing doctrines. 

" One instance somewhat singular, may be worthy 
of note. There was a respectable man who remained 
an attentive observer till near the close of the awak- 
ening, without any particular operation on his own 
mind. Going one day out of town, on a law-suit, it 
turned in his mind that the Bible was the best law 
book, the eternal rule of right between man and man. 
The same thought occurred to his mind frequently 
when going home, and when he retired for the night ; 
but it gave him no particular alarm. When he awak- 
ed before day, the same impression was running in 
his mind, ' The Bible is the best law book.' He rose, 
made a fire, and while he sat meditating upon this 
impression, all at once his soul was filled with rapture, 
and ere he was aware, he was ' like the chariots of Am- 
minadib.' He beheld such glory and beauty in the di- 
vine character as he could not describe, and his mouth 
was immediately filled with praise. He set up family 
duties, and continued in this sweet and comfortable 
frame of mind for a considerable time, without think- 
ing of its being a change of heart ; but finding his 

Rev. Sketches § 



170 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

soul filled with love to God, drawn forth with pecul- 
iar affection towards the brethren, and the most ear- 
nest desire for the salvation of souls and a delight in 
the duties of religion, he was led to hope he had be- 
come a new man, and was admitted to the church, 
where he has adorned his profession. 

"Another was the case of a woman who was a 
violent opposer in a former awakening ; tried to hin- 
der her husband, who was then a sharer, from com- 
ing forward ; opposed him in family duties, and made 
his life exceedingly uncomfortable. She showed the 
utmost spite against all who appeared engaged in the 
work, and would rage as if she wanted means to vent 
her malice. She would not attend meeting, nor read 
the Bible, nor any good book. But God in his infi- 
nite mercy arrested her. For several months she 
was under the most pungent convictions. All her 
wickedness, bitterness, enmity, and rage, appeared to 
her to be pointed directly against God. The pains of 
hell gat hold upon her, and she was ready to give 
up in despair. In this extremity God met her, and 
brought her into the glorious liberty of the gospel, 
giving her to taste the sweets of redeeming love. 
She found peace and comfort ; happiness was restored 
to the family, and joy and gladness revived in the 
hearts of God's children." 

From a letter dated Rutland, Vermont. Feb., 1803. 

"The Lord is making surprising manifestations of 
his love and power among us, in subduing the hearts 
of sinners to the sceptre of Jesus. It is such a time 
as I never saw before. We have conferences almost 
every evening in one part of the parish or another. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 171 

There are no outcries, but it seems like 'the still 
small voice.' Sometimes the work seems as if it 
would carry all before it. Opposition has been made 
in various ways, but has been totally in vain. 

"In Pittsford, the town north of this, a similar 
work began about six months ago, since which time 
about one hundred have made public profession of 
religion. 

" Thus, after eighteen years of deadness and dark- 
ness, we have really a time of refreshing; for when 
the Lord builds up Zion, he appears in his glory." 

From Rev. John B. Preston, Rupert, Vt., July, 1804. 

"I have been settled in the ministry here between 
six and seven years, and till within a few months 
past, have habitually felt that my labors were in 
vain, and that my strength was spent for naught. 
From year to year religion was declining, the church 
was decreasing in numbers and graces, and iniquity 
abounded. A little more than a year ago, the dark- 
ness reached its height, and appeared scarcely to 
admit the smallest beam of hope. 

" In this hour of extremity, a small number of the 
few remaining professors agreed to meet once a week 
for social prayer. At first the number was very 
small, sometimes not more than two or three; but 
they appeared strong in the faith, and fervent in 
prayer, the Spirit helping their infirmities with groan- 
ings which could not be uttered. The meetings be- 
came increasingly solemn, so that in September, the 
number of religious conferences, or rather prayer- 
meetings, in different parts of the society were multi- 
plied to four in a week. A day of fasting and prayer 



112 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

was observed about this time, and attended with a 
special degree of solemnity. 

"But nothing very special occurred till some time 
in November, when on a sudden the Spirit of the 
Lord appeared to come down upon us like ' a rushing 
mighty wind.' Almost the whole society seemed to 
be shaken at once. Scarce a family could be found 
in which there were not some inquiring what they 
should do to be saved. Our prayer-meetings were 
crowded, and solemn to an amazing degree. No 
emotions more violent than shedding of tears, and no 
appearance of wildness and disorder occurred. Noth- 
ing appeared but a silent, fixed attention, and pro- 
found solemnity, the most resembling my idea of the 
day of judgment of any scene I ever witnessed. Infi- 
delity retired, or was overcome by the bright mani- 
festations of divine power* and grace. Several who 
had been hardened in loose principles, were made to 
believe and tremble. One who for a number of years 
had been trusting to the delusive scheme of Univer- 
salism, was constrained to say, ' I know that there is 
one sinner who deserves eternal punishment. No 
man can ever have that sight of his sins and sense 
of his guilt which God has given me, and remain a 
Universalist.' 

"It is impossible fully to describe the amazing 
change that took place among us within a few weeks, 
and even a few days. It was glorious to ' stand still 
and see the salvation of God.' The solemnity con- 
tinued and increased till about the middle of Febru- 
ary. The youth have hopefully shared very largely in 
the blessings that have fallen upon us. Thirty-five 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 113 

young men and women, the most of whom but one 
year ago were wholly devoted to sinful amusements, 
now sit with us around the table of the Lord. The 
whole number of additions to the church since the 
work. began, is eighty-four. Since it commenced, we 
have observed not less than six days of public fasting 
and prayer, which the Lord has manifestly crowned 
with great success in carrying on his work among us. 

"The truths which have been most evidently bless- 
ed in this revival, have been the divine holiness and 
sovereignty, the grace of the gospel, and the sinner's 
total depravity and dependence. And those who 
have obtained a hope that they were the subjects of 
divine grace, have almost without exception appeared 
fully, understandingly, and cordially to assent to all 
those humbling doctrines of the Bible. 

"Within little more than a year, the Spirit has 
also been wonderfully poured out upon a number of 
towns, and about a thousand have been added to the 
churches of Christ in Bennington and Rutland coun- 
ties. Bennington, Sandgate, Rupert, Dorset, Tinmouth, 
Rutland, Brandon, Pittsford, Benson, and Orwell, have 
shared the most largely in this shower of divine 
grace. Not less than fifty have been added to the 
church in each of these towns, and in several, more 
than a hundred. Most of the other towns have shared 
in some degree. 

" In the county of Addison, several towns have 
likewise been favored with some droppings from the 
same cloud. In Bridport, Addison, and Weybridge, 
there have been considerable additions. In Hebron, 
there has been a great awakening the winter past, 



1T4 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

and the work now appears spreading around them. 
No minister was ever settled there, nor church form- 
ed, and the gospel but seldom preachec^ But the 
Lord has been pleased to pass over to their help, and 
to work among them for his great name's sake. 

" Should not the friends of Zion be strong, and re- 
joice in the Lord? From the east and from the west, 
from the north and from the south, are heard songs, 
even glory to the righteous. The voice of the Bride- 
groom is heard in our land. The foolish and the 
righteous are awakening from their long slumbers. 
"When the enemy came in like a flood, then the Lord 
lifted up a standard against him. Let saints rejoice 
in their King : let Zion arise and shine, for her light 
has come. The Lord is gathering in his elect from 
the four corners of the earth. Woe to the inhabi- 
tants thereof, who shall survive this day of the pow- 
erful manifestations of divine grace, and be found 
among the incorrigible number whom the Lord will 
destroy with the brightness of his coming." 

From Rev. Dr. Proudfit, of the Associate Reformed church, 
Salem, N. Y. } to Rev. Dr. Sprague. 1796-1802. 

" We have uniformly been in the habit of dispens- 
ing the ordinance of the Supper four times in the year, 
and so far as I recollect, have never had a sacramen- 
tal occasion without some accession to our numbers. 
But during this long period we have enjoyed, at dif- 
ferent intervals, what would now be pronounced 'a 
revival of religion.' The refreshing influences of 
divine grace descended silently and softly upon the 
heritage of the Lord, like the showers of spring after 
the dreariness and barrenness of winter. A genial 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 175 

warmth appeared to pervade the whole church, to 
the joy of the generation of the righteous, and at the 
same time, multitudes were added to the Lord by an 
external profession of his name. 

" One of these occasions occurred in the year 1796, 
when a very unusual influence apparently accompan- 
ied the outward dispensation of the word, sealing it 
upon the souls both of sinners and saints. A similar 
season occurred about six years afterwards; and an- 
other and still more memorable visitation of the Spir- 
it was enjoyed in the year 1815. 

"During all these seasons of enlargement to my- 
self, and of spiritual joy to the children of adoption 
under my immediate care, and of the 'espousals of 
others to Jesus as their husband,' no extra efforts 
were used, no brethren from other towns were called 
in to our aid, but the work advanced silently and reg- 
ularly, promoted exclusively under the divine bless- 
ing by the ordinary administration of ordinances, 
private and public. Yet, during the whole course of 
my ministry, I have never been favored with seasons 
more delightful in their recollection — none the results 
of which I anticipate with more joy on that day when 
the final account of my stewardship will be required." 

From .Rev. Dr. Thomas De Witt, New York. 

"The portion of the church of Christ with which 
I am connected, (the Reformed Dutch church in Amer- 
ica,) has at different times, in several parts, been fa- 
vored with gracious seasons of revival. At the time 
of Whitefield's first labors in America, there was al- 
ready existing a powerful, extended, and well-marked 
work of grace, under the ministry of the Rev. Theo- 



176 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

dore J. Frelinghuysen, in the neighborhood of Somer- 
ville and New Brunswick, N. J. The blessed fruits 
of this. work were widely spread in those parts, en- 
dured through the following generations, and may 
yet be clearly traced at the present time. Subse- 
quently the ministries of Dr. Laidlie at New York, 
and Dr. Westerlo at Albany, tended greatly to ele- 
vate the tone of evangelical sentiment and piety in 
our churches, and were greatly blessed in the conver- 
sion of sinners. The ministry of the late Dr. John 
H. Livingston (from 1770 to 1810) is well remember- 
ed as most richly evangelical, and clothed with a holy 
unction, while the dew of heaven was upon it in suc- 
cess. At one time for several years subsequent to 
the revolutionary war, while alone in the field of his 
labor, the continued dropping from on high was on 
his ministrations, and numerous accessions were made 
from time to time of such as afterwards exhibited the 
character of enlightened, experimental, fruitful piety. 
Without referring to their ministries, it may be re- 
marked that these were the very men most distin- 
guished among us for their clear, discriminating ex- 
hibition of divine truth, their strict adherence to the 
order of the gospel, their influence upon the general 
welfare of the church, and their wisdom, zeal, and 
fidelity in the work of the ministry." 

From Rev. Dr. John M. Mason, New York, to Rev. William 
Stoddart, of Amsterdam. 

Dr. Mason was installed in 1793, and after eight 
or ten years of ministerial labor, wrote to his friend 
and class-mate, " My gracious Lord has not disowned 
my feeble labors. This man and that have been 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. lit 

born in our Zion. The congregation was compara- 
tively small when it came into my hands, containing 
not quite two hundred persons who had been admit- 
ted to sacramental privileges. During my ministry 
about six hundred have been added 5 and the increase, 
I trust, owes nothing to soothing doctrines, or to 
remissness of discipline. Had we chosen to open the 
door to the merely civil and moral, our number would 
have been much greater. But I wish to see Chris- 
tians in the churches. The world and the church can 
never unite. If we make the foolish attempt, there 
will be a conflict, and either the one or the other 
will be prostrated." 

Of Dr. Mason's labors the late Isabella Graham 
wrote, in 1793, " Our young Timothy is a champion 
for the gospel of Jesus. The Lord has well girded 
him and largely endowed him. He walks closely 
with God, and speaks and preaches like a Christian 
of long experience. He was ordained and installed 
about two months ago in his father's church. for 
a thankful heart! The Lord has done wonders for 
me and mine ; and blessed be his name, that in a 
remarkable manner he hedged me in to become a 
member of this congregation, where I am led and fed 
with the same truths which nourished my soul in 
Zion's gates at Edinburgh; and I am helped to sing 
the Lord's song in a strange land." 

From Rev. Dr. Milledoler, President of Rutgers College, 
New Brunswick, N. J. 1800-1812. 

" Those who are born again are said, in the sacred 
Scriptures, to be ' born of the Spirit/ and ' times of 
refreshing ' are everywhere attributed to Him as their 



178 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

author. It is strange that the reality of revivals 
should be called in question by those who read the 
Bible, are acquainted with church history, or have 
any knowledge whatever of the ordinary or extraor- 
dinary operations of the Spirit of God upon the soul. 
"I have witnessed two revivals during my own 
ministry. The first occurred between the years 1800 
and 1805, while I was officiating as pastor of the Pine- 
street church, Philadelphia. The second between the 
years 1807 and 1812, while officiating as pastor of 
the Rutgers-street church, New York. The former 
continued more than eighteen months ; the latter three 
years. Both occurred under the regular administra- 
tion of the word and sacraments. Large additions 
were made during their continuance to the commun- 
ion of those churches. The church in Rutgers-street 
grew in a few years from somewhere about eighty to 
upwards of seven hundred communicating members. 
This work was connected with no extra means, except 
an additional weekly lecture or prayer-meeting. It 
was attended with no extravagant demonstrations of 
any description whatever, but with much apparent 
humility, with Christian affection, and there is reason 
to believe, also, with much searching of heart, and of 
the holy Scriptures. Of those admitted to full com- 
munion at that time, few, if any, are known to have 
apostatized. I do not myself recollect a single in- 
stance of apostasy." 

From Rev. Dr. Griffin, in Newark, New Jersey, to Rev. Dr. 
Ashbel Green, Philadelphia. 

"About the first of December, 1806, we were en- 
couraged with some symptoms of revival of religion 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 1^9 

in this village, but they quickly disappeared ; and in 
March, 180T, they were renewed, but again passed 
off. The death of Dr. McWhorter in July made a 
great impression on the congregation, which was deep- 
ened in the month of August through the instrumen- 
tality of the Rev. Gideon Blackburn, who preached 
several times here with great zeal and energy. The 
leaven was secretly and increasingly working nine 
months before it became evident. At a time when 
every thing appeared to be still around us, secret 
anxieties were preying upon a number of persons, 
which so far from being the effect of sympathy, were 
known only to God and themselves. In this posture 
things remained for about a fortnight. To a few, it 
was an hour of awful suspense. But in some of the 
last days of August, it became apparent that the de- 
sire for a revival was rapidly spreading in the church. 
"As our sacramental Sabbath was approaching, 
this church, in connection with two neighboring 
churches, agreed to set apart the Friday preceding 
the communion, for fasting and prayer, chiefly to make 
supplication for the effusions of the Holy Spirit. The 
day, which was spent in prayer, singing, and short 
addresses to the people, was marked with unusual 
stillness, accompanied with pleasing appearances of 
humility, earnestness, and a sense of entire depend- 
ence. On the following Sabbath, a number of per- 
sons assembled at nine o'clock in the morning, to 
spend an hour in prayer for their minister, and for 
the blessing of God on the exercises of the day. This 
has become the stated practice of almost all the pray- 
ing people of the congregation. Those who attended 



180 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

this first meeting unexpectedly found themselves ani- 
mated with desires unfelt before, that God would 
that very day bring out his perfections to the view 
of the communicants, and this he did to a degree that 
had seldom or never been seen before. On the even- 
ing of the following Monday, at a lecture preached 
in a private house, evidence of the extraordinary 
presence of God, and the actual commencement of a 
revival of religion, was felt perhaps by every person 
present. During that, and the following week, in- 
creasing symptoms of a most powerful influence were 
discovered. The appearance was as if a collection 
of waters long suspended over the town had fallen 
at once, and deluged the whole place. For several 
weeks the people would stay, at the close of every 
evening service, to hear some new exhortation. At 
those seasons, you might see a multitude weeping 
and trembling around their minister, and many others 
standing as astonished spectators of the scene, and 
beginning to tremble themselves. One Sabbath after 
the second service, when I had catechized and dis- 
missed the little children, they gathered around me 
weeping and inquiring what they should do. I know 
not but a hundred were in tears at once. The scene 
was as affecting as it was unexpected. 

" Early in September many private associations 
for prayer were formed, and I never witnessed the 
communication of so earnest a spirit of prayer, and 
so general, nor observed such evident and remarka- 
ble answers to prayer. The agonies of parents have 
been such as to drive sleep from their eyes, and for 
weeks together have been seemingly as great as their 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 181 

nature could well sustain. And these parents, in 
every case that has come within my knowledge, have 
each several children who are already numbered 
among the hopeful converts. Many professors have 
been severely tried, and not a few have for a time 
given themselves over for lost." 

"This work, in point of power and stillness, ex- 
ceeds all that I have ever seen. While it bears down 
every thing with irresistible force, and seems almost 
to dispense with human ' instrumentality, it moves 
with so much silence, that unless we attentively ob- 
serve its effects, we are tempted at times to doubt 
whether any thing uncommon is taking place. The 
converts are strongly marked with humility and self- 
distrust. Instead of being elated with confident hopes, 
they are inclined to tremble, and almost all are born 
into the distinguishing doctrines of grace. 

"I suppose there are from two hundred and thir- 
ty to two hundred and fifty who hope they have been 
born again, and many still remain under solemn im- 
pressions. The subjects of this work are of all ages, 
from nine years old to more than threescore and ten, 
and of all characters, including drunkards, apostates, 
infidels, and those who were lately malignant oppos- 
ers, and of all conditions, including poor negroes, and 
many of them hoary with age. While we gaze with 
wonder and delight at these glorious triumphs of the 
Prince of peace, and weep for joy to hear babes and 
sucklings sing hosannas to the Son of David, we can- 
not but join in the general response, and cry, ' Blessed 
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna 
in the highest.' " 



182 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

In a letter of 1832, appended to Dr. Sprague's 
Lectures on Eevivals, Dr. Griffin, giving a summary 
view of the revivals in which lie had labored, says, 
"The first of June, 1809, 1 was removed by the prov- 
idence of God, and by the advice of my brethren, to 
the Theological Seminary at Andover, and to a con- 
nection with the infant church in Park-street, Boston, 
as a stated preacher. The house in Park-street not 
being finished, and the Rev. Mr. French of Andover 
dying that summer, I took the pulpit, and supplied 
it till winter, for the benefit of the family. It pleased 
God to pour out his Spirit. A revival of very con- 
siderable extent ensued, calculated to fit that atmos- 
phere to be breathed by the sons of the prophets." 

Revival in Hampden Sydney College, Virginia. 1787, 1788. 

The Rev. Dr. William Hill of Winchester, Vir- 
ginia, on a public occasion gave the following history : 
" I lost my sainted mother when I was a youth, but 
not before the instructions which I received from her 
beloved lips had made a deep impression on my mind, 
an impression which I carried with me into a college, 
Hampden Sydney, Prince Edward county, where there 
was then not one pious student. There I often reflect- 
ed, when surrounded with young men who scoffed at 
religion, upon the instructions of my mother ; and my 
conscience was frequently sore distressed. I had no 
Bible, and dreaded getting one, lest it should be found 
in my possession. At last I could stand it no longer, 
and therefore requested a particular friend, a youth 
whose parents lived near, and who often went home, 
to ask his pious and excellent mother to send me 
some religious book. She sent me Alleine's Alarm, 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 183 

an old black book, which looked as if it might have 
been handled by successive generations for one hun- 
dred years. 

" When I got it I locked my room, and lay on my 
bed reading it, when a student knocked at the door. 
And although I gave him no answer, dreading to be 
found reading such a book, he continued to knock 
and beat the door until I had to open it. He came 
in, and seeing the book lying on the bed, he seized it, 
and examining its title, said, ' Why, Hill, do you read 
such books ?' I hesitated, but God enabled me to be 
decided, and to answer him boldly, but with much 
emotion, ' Yes, I do.' The young man said, with deep 
agitation, ' Oh, Hill, I envy you. You may obtain 
religion, but I never can. I came here a professor 
of religion, but through fear I dissembled, and have 
been carried along with the wicked until I fear there 
is no hope for me.' 

" He told me there were two others who, he be- 
lieved, were somewhat serious. We agreed to take 
up the subject of religion in earnest, and seek it 
together. We invited the other two, and held a 
prayer-meeting in my room on the next Saturday 
afternoon. And Oh, what a prayer-meeting! We 
tried to pray, but such prayer I never heard the like 
of. We knew not how to pray, but tried to do it. 
It was the first prayer-meeting I had ever heard of. 
We tried to sing, but it was in a most suppressed 
manner, for we feared the other students. But they 
found it out, and gathered round the door, and made 
such a noise that some of the officers had to come and 
disperse them. And so serious was the disturbance 



184 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

that the president, the late excellent Rev. Dr. John 
Blair Smith, had to investigate the matter at prayers, 
that evening, in the prayer hall. When he demanded 
the reason of the riot, a ringleader in wickedness got 
up and stated, that it was occasioned by three or four 
of the boys holding a prayer-meeting, and they were 
determined to have no such doings there. 

"The good president heard the statement with 
deep emotion, and looking at the youths charged 
with the sin of praying, with tears in his eyes he said, 
' Oh, is there such a state of things in this college ? 
Then God has come near to us. My dear young- 
friends, you shall be protected. You shall hold your 
next meeting in my parlor, and I will be one of your 
number. 5 Sure enough we had our next meeting in 
his parlor, and half the college were there. And 
there began a glorious revival of religion, which 
pervaded the college, and spread into the country 
around. 

" Many of those students became ministers of the 
gospel. The youth who brought me Alleine's Alarm 
from his mother, was my friend the Rev. William 
Calhoun, still preaching in this state ; and he who 
interrupted me in reading the work, is my venerable 
and worthy friend the Rev. Dr. Blythe, now president 
of a college in Indiana. Another was Rev. Clement 
Reed of this state ; and a fifth, the late Rev. Carey 
H. Allen of Kentucky." 

This revival included among its subjects half of 
the students in the college. It extended into neigh- 
boring churches, and then into those more remote, 
and was more extensive and powerful than had been 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 185 

experienced in Virginia since the days of President 
Davies, who died in 1761. Dr. Smith, the president 
of Hampden Sydney, was greatly quickened. " Two 
hundred and twenty persons, chiefly young people, 
were added to the churches to which he ministered 
within eighteen months; and the revival extended 
over Prince Edward, Cumberland, Charlotte, and 
Bedford counties, and to the Peaks of Otter," in the 
Blue Ridge. 

Dr. Archibald Alexander in Central Virginia. 1789, 1790. 

The history of Dr. Alexander's early life in the 
valley of Virginia, shows how great was the moral 
dearth there prevailing in the latter part of the last 
century, and illustrates the grace of God in raising 
up laborers to fulfil his own purposes of mercy. 
Though descended from a worthy Scotch Presby- 
terian ancestry, he says of himself at the age of seven- 
teen, in 1789, " My only notion of religion was, that 
it consisted in becoming better. I had never heard 
of any conversions among Presbyterians. . . . The 
state of morals and religion after the revolutionary 
war was very bad. 77 He engaged that year as a tutor 
in the family of General Posey, of which a venerated 
and pious Baptist lady was an inmate, who proved to 
him an invaluable friend. She loved the writings of 
Flavel, and as her eyes were weak, she often sent for 
him to read to her. Her conversation and this read- 
ing with other influences called his attention to relig- 
ion, and Soame Jenyns on the Internal Evidences 
banished the prevalent French Infidelity which was 
assailing him. He proceeds to say : 

" My services as a reader were frequently in requi- 



186 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

sition, not only to save the eyes of old Mrs. Tyler, but 
on Sundays for the benefit of the whole family. On 
one of these Sabbath evenings, I was requested to 
read out of Flavel. The part on which I had been 
regularly engaged was the 'Method of Grace/ but 
now, by some means, I was led to select one of the 
sermons on Rev. 3 : 20, ' Behold, I stand at the door 
and knock/ etc. The discourse was upon the pa- 
tience, forbearance, and kindness of the Lord Jesus 
Christ to impenitent and obstinate sinners. As I 
proceeded to read aloud, the truth took effect on my 
feelings, and every word I read seemed applicable to 
my own case. Before I finished the discourse, these 
emotions became too strong for restraint, and my 
voice began to falter. I laid down the book, rose 
hastily, and went out with a full heart, and hastened 
to my place of retirement. No sooner had I reached 
the spot than I dropped upon my knees, and attempt- 
ed to pour out my feelings in prayer, but I had not 
continued many minutes in this exercise before I was 
overwhelmed with a flood of joy. I was filled with 
a sense of the goodness and mercy of God." He 
passed through many fears, doubts, and conflicts be- 
fore he was satisfied of his good estate, but in his 
later years he regarded this as the period of his con- 
version to Christ. 

Hearing of the great revival above noticed in the 
neighborhood of Prince Edward, east of the Blue 
Ridge, he accompanied some of his fellow-students 
and their revered instructor Rev. William Graham, 
rector of Liberty Hall at Lexington, Rockbridge 
county, to the scene of wonders, where he passed 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 18? 

some days; attended a communion-season at which 
multitudes were present, heard Dr. John Blair Smith 
and others preach, saw William Hill and others of 
the recent converts, and on their return "a revival 
of great power commenced, which extended to almost 
every Presbyterian church in the valley of Virginia." 
He, with several other young men, fruits of that revi- 
val, entered on study for the ministry ; he was licens- 
ed to preach, October, 1791, and devoted himself to 
labors in the destitute and frontier settlements of Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina. A private record of texts 
and places shows that, in the first fifteen months 
of his ministry, he preached one hundred and fifty- 
two sermons, and he says, " I never thought of any 
compensation for what I did." His subsequent labors 
and influence, especially in founding the Theological 
seminary in Princeton, and for nearly forty years 
diffusing a missionary and revival spirit among the 
hundreds of its members, are well known. 

From a letter of Rev. Dr. Furman of Charleston, S. C, to 
Rev. Dr. E-ippon of London, August, 1802. 

Dr. Furman gives a particular account of a large 
union meeting held by Baptists, Presbyterians, Meth- 
odists, and others at the Waxhaws, about one hundred 
and seventy miles from Charleston, at which he esti- 
mated that three or four thousand were present, and 
about twenty ministers. 

"The services," he says, "were conducted with 
much solemnity. Many seemed to be seriously con- 
cerned for the salvation of their souls, and the preach- 
ing and exhortation of the ministers in general were 
well calculated to make right impressions. Deep 



188 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

conviction for sin, and apprehension of the wrath of 
God were manifested at first, and several afterwards 
appeared to have a joyful sense of pardoning mercy 
through a Eedeemer. 

" A very considerable number had gone seventy 
or eighty miles from the lower parts of this state to 
attend this meeting, and since their return an extra- 
ordinary revival has taken place in the congregations 
to which they belong. It has spread also across the 
upper parts of this state. Taking it for granted that 
you have seen the publication entitled, - Surprising 
Accounts/ by Woodward of Philadelphia, containing 
the accounts of revivals in Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
North Carolina, I therefore say nothing of them, but 
only that the work in North Carolina increases 
greatly." 

Other accounts from all the states here named 
show the marvellous displays of divine grace. In the 
Kioka church, Georgia, in 1787, under the labors of 
Mr. Marshall, one hundred souls were brought in, and 
" a remarkable ingathering " in that church is record- 
ed about 1802, "the time of the great revival which 
prevailed in many parts of Georgia." 

Revivals in Western Pennsylvania. 1778-1805. 

The aged Rev. Joseph Stevenson, who entered on 
his pastoral labors about fifty years since in "Western 
Pennsylvania, writes : 

"It may almost be said that the Presbyterian 
church in Western Pennsylvania was born in a revi- 
val. In 1778, Vance's fort, into which the families 
living adjacent had been driven by the Indians, was 
the scene of a remarkable work. There was but one 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 189 

pious man in the fort, Joseph Patterson, a layman, 
an earnest and devoted Christian, whose zeal had 
not waned even amid the storm and terrors of war ; 
and during the long days and nights of their besiege- 
ment, he talked with his careless associates of an 
enemy more to be dreaded than the Indian, and a 
death more terrible than by the scalping-knife. As 
they were shut up within very narrow limits, his voice, 
though directed to one -or two, could easily be heard 
by the whole company, and thus his personal exhorta- 
tions became public addresses. Deep seriousness fill- 
ed every breast, and some twenty persons were there 
led to Christ. These were a short time subsequently 
formed into the Cross Creek church, which built its 
house of worship near the fort, and had as its pastor 
for thirty-three years one of these converts, the Kev. 
Thomas Marques. 

" From 1781 to 1787, a more extensive work of 
grace was experienced in the churches of Cross Creek, 
Upper Buffalo, Chartiers, Pigeon Creek, Bethel, Leb- 
anon, Ten Mile, Cross Roads, and Mill Creek, dur- 
ing which more than a thousand persons were brought 
into the kingdom of Christ. Considering the unset- 
tled state of the public mind at the close of the Revo- 
lutionary war, the constant anxiety and watchfulness 
against the incursions of hostile Indians, the toils and 
hardships incident to new settlements, and the scarc- 
ity of ministers, this was a signal work of the Spirit, 
greatly strengthening the feeble churches. 

" From 1795 to 1799, another series of gracious 
visitations was enjoyed by the churches generally 
throughout Western Pennsylvania, extending to the 



190 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

new settlements north of Pittsburg. In this work 
Dr. McMillan, the first settled pastor in Western 
Pennsylvania, received into his church one hundred 
and ten, Mr. Marques one hundred and twenty-three, 
and large additions were made to many others. 

" These works of grace prepared the way for the 
larger outpouring of the Spirit in 1802 to 1804. 
Many of the subjects of these early revivals emigrat- 
ed to the surrounding counties, and became the ele- 
ments of new churches, while not less than twenty 
of those converts prepared for the ministry, and 
were prominent laborers in the great revivals for 
which God had thus raised them up. 

" In the latter part of 1801, and the beginning of 
1802, the meetings for social worship, and the obser- 
vance of public ordinances throughout Western Penn- 
sylvania became remarkable in regard both to num- 
bers and solemnity. In the spring and summer of 
1802, there was a great increase of prayer and expec- 
tation of a blessing, leading many to continue all 
night in pleadings for the Holy Spirit's presence. 
In the autumn of 1802, the sacramental seasons in 
the various churches were attended by large numbers 
even from the distance of fifty miles, and deep so- 
lemnity felt by all. It is believed that more than 
five thousand people sometimes came together on 
these occasions, and remained for three, four, or five 
days, during which almost constant services were 
maintained. 

" At a communion held in Cross Roads, a great 
multitude assembled, and nine ministers were present. 
The meeting-house, though large, being insufficient to 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 191 

contain half of the people on the Sabbath, the sacra- 
ment was administered at the tent to about eight 
hundred communicants, of whom forty-one were ad- 
mitted for the first time. On Monday three minis- 
ters preached at different places, one in the house, 
and two in the encampment. This was a very solemn 
day. At the close of public worship it was the desire 
of the ministers that the people should disperse, but 
so intense was the feeling that few would leave. 
Many of the young people were deeply exercised, 
frequently speaking to sinners of their lost condition, 
of the glories of the Saviour, of the excellency and 
suitableness of the plan of salvation, warning, invit- 
ing, and pressing sinners to come to Christ; and all 
this in a manner quite astonishing for their years. 
Experienced Christians also were much refreshed and 
comforted, and affectingly recommended the Lord Je- 
sus and his religion to those around them. Such meet- 
ings were held in various churches crowded with peo- 
ple from all the surrounding country, thousands were 
brought under deep conviction, and many hundreds 
professed faith in Christ. 

"This work extended with more or less power 
over most of the churches in Western Pennsylvania 
and North-eastern Ohio. It continued with little 
abatement for two years, attesting itself to be a true 
work of God by its blessed fruits. From that day 
to this those churches have remained faithful wit- 
nesses for Christ, have established schools, founded 
colleges, trained hundreds of ministers, and sent forth 
thousands of Christians, as the nuclei of churches 
over the west and south." 



192 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

From Rev. Thomas Marques, Cross Creek church, Western 
Pennsylvania. 1804. 

"I took the charge of this congregation in June 
1794, and preached here and in Buffalo congregation 
alternately until 1798. During this period there was 
in general a solemn attention, a considerable number 
were awakened, and one hundred and twenty-three 
were admitted to the communion, who have generally 
supported a profession becoming the gospel. 

"In 1799, the Lord poured out the gracious influ- 
ences of his Holy Spirit on the congregation, many 
were awakened, and twenty added to the church. 

"In the spring of 1802, the Lord again revived 
his work, and carried it on until the first Tuesday in 
October, at which, time the Spirit seemed like a rush- 
ing mighty wind, as on the day of pentecost. Many 
were alarmed with a view of their own sinful condi- 
tion, and that of others around them. 

" They generally had a deep sense of their undone 
state by nature, and their exposedness to the wrath 
of God. It seemed as if the sins of their childhood 
and youth all came up to their view, but especially 
the heaven-daring sin of rejecting the Lord Jesus 
Christ, as offered to them in the gospel. Those who 
have obtained relief, have scriptural views of the 
moral character of God, of the method of salvation 
through a Redeemer, of the sufficiency of his atone- 
ment, and the way in which God can be just and all 
his attributes remain unspotted in saving sinners ac- 
cording to the new covenant. They appear to acqui- 
esce in the method of salvation through Christ, mak- 
ing a full, free, and hearty surrender of themselves 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 193 

to God and his service, embracing Christ as their 
prophet, priest, and king, under a deep sense of their 
need of him in all these offices, and of their entire 
unworthiness of the least favor at his hand. 

" The fruits and effects of this work evidence it 
to be of God. Those whose tongues were dumb have 
learned to speak the language of Canaan. Those 
who were formerly Sabbath-breakers, scoffing at sa- 
cred things, and guilty of other immoralities, have 
not only forsaken their former evil practices, but 
have become regular and sober, diligently attending 
the ordinances of God's house, and conscientiously 
performing the duties of religion. Those who once 
depended upon their own attainments and good works 
for acceptance with God, have renounced all for the 
righteousness of Christ. Those who formerly delight- 
ed in carnal company, merry jests, profane songs, and 
foolish and vain conversation, now seek the company 
of them who fear God, and delight in holy exercises 
and spiritual communion. Those who formerly attend- 
ed upon the preaching of the gospel either as idle 
spectators, or to cavil at or quarrel with it, now 
attend with a desire to know their duty, to enjoy 
communion with God, and receive grace and strength 
from him to enable them to live to his glory. Many 
have, in the most solemn, sweet, and affecting manner, 
spoken of the wisdom, love, and glory of God shining 
in the plan of salvation through Christ. They have 
also lamented their ignorance and want of love to him, 
the evil of their hearts, and the total depravity of 
their natures — have frequently expressed their desire 
after holiness and conformity to God, and their ten- 
Rev. Sketches Q 



194 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

der concern for his cause and the salvation of sinners. 
In short, many evidence a sweet, solemn, and humble 
disposition, equal to any thing we have ever witness- 
ed in young converts. About one hundred have been 
admitted to the church." 

Revivals in Kentucky and Tennessee about 1800. 

The " Great Revival of 1800 " is as well known 
in Kentucky and Tennessee as in the Atlantic states. 
Dr. Davidson, in his history of the state of the church- 
es in Kentucky, says : 

" On the eve of the nineteenth century, notwith- 
standing the increase of ministers and churches, the 
prospect was sufficiently gloomy to appall both the 
Christian and the patriot. The population of the 
state advanced with incredible rapidity, and soon 
outstripped the supply of the means of grace. World- 
ly-mindedness, infidelity, and dissipation threatened 
to deluge the land, and sweep away all vestiges of 
piety and morality. The rising generation were 
growing up in almost universal ignorance of religious 
obligation. The elder church-members were gradu- 
ally dying off, and were replaced by no recruits from 
the ranks of the young. Except a little Goshen here 
and there, the shadow of night was gathering over 
the land. At this juncture, when hope was ready 
to expire, an unlooked-for and astonishing change 
suddenly took place. This event was the Great 
Revival of 1800, so called from its wide extent and 
influence, and which, after all necessary allowances 
for the disorders which deformed it, was, beyond 
controversy, attended with signal benefits. A pre- 
paratory work had been going on for some time prr- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 195 

vious. The zealous labors of the Yirginia missiona- 
ries, and others of the younger clergy, were not with- 
out effect, and there was yet a remnant in the land, 
that had neither bowed the knee to mammon nor 
Thomas Paine. An unusual attention to religion had 
been awakened in the south-western section of the 
state, in what was known as the Green River country, 
and the Cumberland settlements, a year or two 
previous." 

A record of the Baptist churches in Kentucky 
states, that "in the remarkable outpourings of the 
Holy Spirit, from 1799 to 1803, in most parts of our 
land, among different denominations, about ten thou- 
sand were added to the Baptist churches within that 
state, who gave evidence of genuine conversion." 

Of Rev. Robert Donnell, one of the fathers of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian church, who early entered 
on itinerant labors in Tennessee and North Alabama, 
and preached the gospel with fidelity and success for 
nearly fifty years, his biographer says, " He professed 
religion in the year 1800, in that ever memorable 
revival of pure experimental religion in which the 
Cumberland Presbyterian church had its origin." 

It cannot be denied that in this revival, elsewhere 
so free from nervous excitement, there were, in parts 
of Kentucky and Tennessee, extraordinary "bodily 
exercises," called the jerks, falling down, etc., in the 
meetings, which the enlightened friends of the work 
lamented, and which excited its enemies to ridicule 
and blaspheme. But it must be remembered, that 
these physical agitations took place at the large 
camp-meetings, in which were gathered all the ele- 



196 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ments of excitement from every quarter, and which 
were continued day and night, till the consequent 
exhaustion of the multitudes in a great measure took 
away the power of self-control. These remarkable 
phenomena by no means proved that it was all fanat- 
icism and delusion. There were beyond question 
many true conversions. 

The Rev. Dr. Cleland wrote, in 1834, after wit- 
nessing the fruits of this work for more than thirty 
years, " The work at first was no doubt a glorious 
work of God. Many within my knowledge became 
hopefully pious, the most of whom continue unto this 
present, and many have fallen asleep in Jesus. The 
number of apostates was much fewer than I sup- 
posed." 

The Rev. Dr. Alexander said of that work, 
" Many facts which occurred at the close of the revi- 
val were of such a nature that judicious men were 
fully persuaded that there was much that was wrong 
in the manner of conducting the work, and that an 
erratic and enthusiastic spirit prevailed to a lament- 
able extent. It is not doubted, however, that the 
Spirit of God was really poured out, and that many 
sincere converts were made, especially in the com- 
mencement of the revival; but too much indulgence 
was given to a heated imagination, and too much 
stress was laid on the bodily affections which accom- 
panied the work, as though they were supernatural 
phenomena, intended to arouse the attention of the 
careless world." 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 197 

REV. DR. DWIGHT, YALE COLLEGE— REFLECTIONS 
ON THE WORK ABOUT 1800. 

I have reserved for this place the name of one 
whom the churches delighted to honor, Dr. Timothy 
Dwight, president of Yale college, a fast friend of 
revivals, as well as a renowned and beloved teacher 
of the young men who resorted to that institution for ' 
classical education. 

To go a little further back, when Dr. Dwight 
came into office, in 1795, many of the leading stu- 
dents in the several classes were deeply tinctured 
with French infidelity, and its bold champions were 
not backward to encounter the new president, at the 
first favorable opportunity. This was soon granted 
them, in a discussion before him involving the truth 
and inspiration of the Scriptures. They mustered all 
their force, and anticipated a signal victory. The 
day came in the class-room. It was a mortal onset 
for them, but a proud day for the college. In the 
summing up, he so scathingly exposed their ignorance, 
and so triumphantly overthrew them at every point, 
that they never wanted to measure weapons with him 
again. From that hour infidelity lost its prestige in 
Yale college, and has never dared openly to show its 
head since. The victory was an incalculable gain to 
the cause of religion in that popular seat of learning, 
and through the agency of its graduates who entered 
the ministry. It enthroned the president in the con- 
fidence of the students, and prepared them to listen 
with new interest to his admirable discourses from 
the pulpit, which, as professor of divinity, he preached 
in the college chapel from Sabbath to Sabbath, dur- 



198 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ing the period of his presidency. It was morally im- 
possible to sit four years under such preaching, so 
convincing in argument, so solemn and earnest in 
appeal, and so eloquent in delivery, without being 
instructed and profited, at least in some degree. 

Nothing very remarkable, however, took place, till 
the spring and summer of 1802, when the revival, in 
its triumphant progress on the right hand and the 
left, reached Yale college; and there it came with 
such power as had never been witnessed within those 
walls before. It was in the Freshman year of my own 
class. It was like a mighty rushing wind. The whole 
college was shaken. It seemed for a time as if the 
whole mass of the students would press into the king- 
dom. It was the Lord's doing, and marvellous in all 
eyes. Oh, what a blessed change ! 

As the fruit of this revival, so memorable in the 
history of the institution, fifty-eight were added to 
the college church, and others, I know not how many, 
joined the churches at home. It was a glorious ref- 
ormation. It put a new face upon the college. It 
sent a thrill of joy and thanksgiving far and wide 
into the hearts of its friends, who had been praying 
that the waters of salvation might be poured into the 
fountain from which so many streams were annually 
sent out. 

The triennial catalogue shows, that for many years 
there had been but very few in the seminary prepar- 
ing for the pulpit. In the four preceding classes, 
only thirteen names of ministers stand against sixty- 
nine in the next four years ; nearly if not quite all of 
them brought in by the great revival. 



NINETEENTH CENTUHY. 199 

Thus we see how dark were the prospects of the 
churches when it commenced. Only thirteen from the 
college in four years ; less than four in a year, and 
that when there were but two or three other colleges 
in the country, from which any additional supplies 
could be expected. 

It was indeed the bright dawn of a new Christian 
epoch, when the heavens were opened, and poured 
down righteousness upon Yale college, and upon 
scores of churches ; and I may venture to say, that 
the influence of those revivals upon the cause of vital 
religion at home and abroad, has already surpassed 
the most sanguine hopes of those who witnessed and 
rejoiced in them. 

At that time, when a student was converted in 
college, or before he entered, it was taken for granted 
by everybody, that he intended to devote his life to 
the service of Christ in the gospel. It was so at 
Yale, in the revival of 1802. I cannot call to mind 
a single convert who did not at once ask, * Lord, what 
wilt thou have me to do ¥ and who did not set his 
heart upon becoming a preacher. Nearly all of them, 
as the catalogue shows, entered the ministry. The 
exceptions were very few, and mainly from causes 
which they could not control. How different, alas, 
from what we witness now ! If one-half of the grad- 
uates from our colleges who profess religion enter 
the ministry, it is about as much as the churches and 
a perishing world are allowed to expect. I bless 
God it was not so then. Had it been, what a loss to 
the cause for which Christ shed his blood. And who 



200 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

will say that the demand for good ministers is less 
now, than it was then ? 

And why this great falling off? It is not because 
souls are less precious, or less in danger of perishing, 
in the middle of the nineteenth century, than they 
were at the beginning. Is it because young men ob- 
tain hopes easier under the preaching of the present 
day, than they did under the ministry of Hyde, Griffin, 
Hallock, and their contemporaries, who were so emi- 
nently doctrinal in their discourses? I cannot help 
thinking it is, at least in part. As he loveth much 
to whom much is forgiven, so he who has most deeply 
felt the plague of his own heart, and the justice of 
his condemnation under discriminating preaching — he 
who has most deeply felt his own perishing need of a 
Saviour — will feel more constrained by the love of 
Christ to enter the ministry, that if possible he may 
save some who are under the same condemnation, 
than if the terrors of death had not taken hold upon 
him when he was passing through the deep waters. 
Such were the preachers who came out of the revi- 
vals now under review, and who were to carry for- 
ward the work when the fathers had fallen asleep. 
They knew what truths had taken the deepest hold 
of their own minds, and made them the basis of their 
ministry. 

Whatever view we can take of the work of God 
at the beginning of this century, it was a glorious 
period in the religious history of the country. The 
apostasies have been comparatively few, and besides 
their rich harvests in gathering souls to Christ, those 
revivals stand connected, in the history of Redemp- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 201 

tion, with those aggressive agencies by which He is 
now turning our own moral wildernesses into fruitful 
fields, and sending the gospel to all heathen lands. 

When that era dawned, there were no Missionary 
societies, foreign or domestic, no Bible societies, no 
Tract societies, no Education societies, no onward 
movements in the churches of any sort, for the con- 
version of the world. At home it was deep spiritual 
apathy ; abroad, over all the heathen lands, the calm 
of the Dead sea — death, death, nothing but death. 

All the first foreign missionaries, Hall, Newell, 
Mills, Judson, Nott, Rice, Bingham, King, Thurston, 
and others who entered the field a little later, were 
converted and received their missionary baptism in 
that revival. The American Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions was formed in 1810, at the urgency of the first 
band that went out from this country to India. But 
for their earnest solicitation to be sent forth with the 
glad tidings of the gospel upon their tongues, no such 
Board would have been formed ; certainly not at that 
time ; and if it had, it could not have done any thing : 
there would have been no missionaries to send, if God 
had not poured out his Spirit, and raised them up 
and prepared them to endure hardness as good sol- 
diers of Jesus Christ. In these revivals the holy fire 
was kindled, and waked up and warmed the churches 
to an onward aggressive movement, such as had never 
been known in this country before. Other missiona- 
ries soon followed under the same Board. And about 
the same time, the Baptist Foreign Mission Board 
was organized to sustain Judson and Rice who had 
joined their communion, and commenced a mission in 

9* 



202 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Burmah, which has become one of the most prosperous 
missions of the present age. And now, behold what 
from these small and feeble beginnings God has 
wrought, in the four quarters of the world, and the 
isles of the Gentiles. 

From the same revival source sprang home mis- 
sions. It began to be felt, we have a wide and fast 
spreading population within our own borders that 
must be cared for, aud then domestic missionary so- 
cieties were formed to meet the want. 

Nor was this enough. The churches having once 
waked up from their long slumbers, could not rest 
here. The destitute at home must have the word of 
God put into their hands, and it must be sent abroad 
with the missionaries, and translated into the tongues 
wherein the heathen were born, that they might read 
the wonderful works of God and be turned from dark- 
ness to light, from the worship of dumb idols to 
the worship of Him who made the world. Hence 
sprang the American Bible Society, and in succession 
its hundreds of branches and kindred institutions, that 
are now preparing and distributing the bread of life 
from one end of the earth to the other. 

Nor yet again could the yearnings of Christian 
benevolence, once excited, rest without still further 
expansion. A Christian literature, in a cheap and 
attractive form, must be created and diffused. Small 
religious tracts must be written, printed, and scatter- 
ed over the land; to this end Tract Societies must be 
organized, funds must be raised, and the press be en- 
listed. It was done, and through this ever active and 
all-pervading agency, what hath God wrought ! 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 203 

Having proceeded thus far with these aggressions 
upon the kingdom of darkness, was there any thing 
more to be done to pour into it the light of heaven? 
Yes, a great deal more, and through many other 
kindred agencies. So the Sabbath-school Union was 
formed. The Colored population, and the Sailors 
must be cared for, the ravages of Intemperance must 
be arrested on the land and on the sea. 

Thus the glorious cause of religion and philan- 
thropy has advanced, till it would require a space 
which cannot be afforded in these sketches, so much 
as to name the Christian and humane societies which 
have sprung up all over the land within the last forty 
years. Exactly how much we at home and the world 
abroad are indebted for these organizations, so rich 
in blessings, to the revivals of 1800, it is impossible 
to say, though much every way — more than enough 
to magnify the grace of God in the instruments he 
employed, in the immediate fruits of their labors, and 
the subsequent harvests springing from the good seed 
which was sown by the men whom God delighted 
thus to honor. 

It cannot be denied, that modern missions sprung- 
out of those revivals. The immediate connection 
between them as cause and effect, was remarkably 
clear in the organization of the first societies, which 
have since accomplished so much ; and the impulse 
which they gave to the churches to extend the bless^ 
ings which they were diffusing, by forming the later 
affiliated societies of like aims and character, is 
scarcely less obvious. Taken altogether, the revival 
period at the close of the last century and the begin- 



204 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ning of the present, furnishes ample materials for a 
long and glorious chapter in the History of Redemp- 
tion. 

What if the Spirit had not been poured out when 
it was so greatly needed, after the long spiritual 
drought under which the land was suffering? Or 
what if a different character had been stamped upon 
the revival by ignorant and fanatical preachers? 
What if D wight and Griffin and the other ministers 
of the day, whose testimony we have in these sketches, 
had made it an easy matter for sinners to repent and 
gain a hope, instead of holding up before them the 
character of God, the strictness, justice, and terrible 
penalty of his law, the entire and dreadful depravity 
of their hearts, the absolute sovereignty of God in 
having mercy on whom he will have mercy, regenera- 
tion by the Holy Spirit, and justification by faith 
alone — what would have been the fruits? Under 
smooth, superficial preaching, there might have been 
some real converts; but as the late Eev. Daniel A. 
Clark says in one of his printed sermons, " They 
would not have known when they were converted, 
who converted them, or what they were converted 
for." There is no reason to think, I am sure, that 
under any preaching that "heals the hurt slightly," 
the revivals, if they had taken place at all, would 
have filled and strengthened the churches by their 
thoroughness and the ripeness of their fruits, or their 
influence upon the age and the world, as those of 
which I have been speaking did. They went down 
into the depths of the soul, searched out all the 
deceitful hiding-places of its enmity against God, and 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 205 

brought the sinner helpless and self-condemned to the 
foot of the cross. 

I have dwelt longer upon the revival epoch which 
opened in our own land at the commencement of this 
century, than upon any that preceded it, because I 
was then upon the stage, and passed through those 
remarkable years of the right hand of the Most High, 
so that I can speak what I do know, and testify what 
I have seen ; because I think the work was freer from 
objectionable drawbacks, and a greater proportion of 
those who obtained hopes held out to the end, than in 
" the great awakening," or any preceding revival since 
the Reformation; because there was so little of 'Lo 
here, and Lo there, 7 to divert men's minds from the 
state of their own hearts, and their absolute depend- 
ence upon the Spirit of God to work in them by his 
renewing and sanctifying power ; and because it stir* 
red up the churches to aggressive action upon the 
country and the world, through the combined instru- 
mentality of missionary and other kindred societies, 
as no former revival had ever done. 

In looking back fifty years and more, the great 
revival of that period strikes me, in its thoroughness, 
in its depth, in its freedom from animal, unhealthy 
excitement, and in its far-reaching influence on sub- 
sequent revivals, as having been decidedly in advance 
of any that had preceded it. It was the opening of a 
new revival epoch which has lasted now more than 
half a century, with but short and partial interrup- 
tions — and blessed be God, the end is not yet. In the 
next chapter I shall resume the subject, and bring 
these sketches down to the present time. 



206 REVIVAL SKETCHES, 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE REVIVAL EPOCH ABOUT 1800— 

CONTINUED. 

The great Revival of 1800, as we have seen, was 
so quiet and orderly and free from objections, there 
were so many demonstrable proofs of the mighty 
power of God in arresting and converting men of 
all classes, infidels, universalists, drunkards, profane 
swearers, as well as multitudes of others, and there 
was so marked a change for the better in the state 
of society, that nobody could help seeing it. In some 
respects, as I have already shown, its distinctive char- 
acteristics were quite different from the Great Awak- 
ening sixty years before, under Edwards, Whitefield, 
and their fellow-laborers of like precious faith. As 
there were no such outbursts of high-wrought animal 
excitement as often disturbed public worship then, 
so no such fanatical divisions supervened, to rend the 
churches and bring reproach upon the cause. No 
itinerants, flaming with zeal not according to know- 
ledge, now sprung up to distract the churches, grieve 
the Holy Spirit, and bring into discredit all revivals. 
On the contrary, the most sceptical were constrained 
to say, " This is the finger of God. It can't be man's 
work. What we have witnessed is utterly beyond 
all human power to accomplish." They may not have 
been converted, though some of them were, but their 
mouths were shut. 

For some years after the revivals recorded in the 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 207 

last chapter, though the work was not so general as 
at the going out of the last, and the coming in of the 
present century, yet there were many revivals of 
the same marks of genuineness, showing that God 
had not shut up the heavens, but was waiting to be 
more earnestly inquired of, again to come down and 
multiply the trophies of redeeming love. So that, 
when God again more copiously poured out his Spirit, 
it was not marked as a new epoch, but the same con- 
tinued and extended. 

It was in that interval of partial suspension, that 
by the grace of God, I was permitted to enter the min- 
istry. I was ordained and settled in 1807, and by 
the help of God I continue unto this day to witness 
what I have seen, and to give a brief sketch of the 
revivals in this country for the last fifty years. Yery 
brief it must be, to leave room for the Manual in the 
second part of this volume. This I regret the less, 
because if I had ever so much space, the narratives 
are so recent and so ample, and are to be found in so 
many volumes within the reach of all who take an 
interest in the advancement of the Redeemer's king- 
dom, that not much enlargement seems to be called 
for. Brief sketches are now more likely to be read, 
I think, than many repetitions of minute narratives, 
as repetitions to a great extent they must needs be, 
where the phases of revivals are substantially alike. 

About 1814, as near as I can fix the date, from 
my own recollection and the helps before me, the 
clouds, laden with their rich refreshings, began again 
to gather over more of the churches. Those who kept 
near the throne in prayer, and had wisdom to discern 



208 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

the signs of the times, began to expect great things, 
and they were not disappointed. It was as if the 
Saviour had said, " Ye shall see greater things than 
these." Not greater displays of divine power than 
they had witnessed in the revivals a few years before 
at the opening of the century, but in their longer con- 
tinuance, if not in their wider extent. 

Many of the converts in these first revivals were 
now entering the ministry, and a few of them remain 
even unto this day. The rest have fallen asleep. 
I believe that not far from four-fifths of the younger 
pastors of evangelical churches, who were especially 
blessed during the succeeding twenty years, were 
themselves converted under the labors of Dwight, 
Alexander, Hyde, Griffin, Hallock, Mills, and their 
contemporaries, many of whose names I have given in 
a former chapter. They of course came out of the 
best schools for learning what a genuine revival is, 
and what preaching is most blessed in carrying on the 
work. When they came into the same care of souls, 
they would naturally refer back to their own experi- 
ence and observation, when the arrows of conviction 
were piercing their own consciences, and the inquiry, 
What must we do to be saved ? was sounding in their 
ears. They could not help it. They would adopt the 
same style of preaching, and substantially the same 
other means, as they had felt and witnessed to be 
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong- 
holds ; and in reviewing the history and results of their 
labors in winning souls, we should be disappointed 
not to find the same image and superscription en- 
stamped upon the revivals under their own ministry. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 209 

How far this expectation has been realized, will 
appear as I proceed with these sketches. 

If I do not name so many of this second genera- 
tion of revival preachers in our current century, nor 
dwell so long and specifically upon their labors, as I 
have done in the earlier period, it is not because I 
think them inferior in talents and ministerial gifts to 
their fathers, nor that I think them, as a body, de- 
serving of less honor in their Master's service, but 
because of their relative position and antecedents. 
The pioneers in any important era of human advance- 
ment are of course more prominent on the historic 
page, than those who are taught by them to follow 
in the same line and carry out their plans and prin- 
ciples, though the latter may be as much devoted to 
the cause as the former. So here, though the dis- 
ciples may not have been a whit behind their masters 
in piety, in zeal, or in ministerial qualifications to 
serve Christ in the gospel, entering as they did into 
the labors of their predecessors and teachers, the 
less need be said of their labors and success in the 
same fields. 

With few exceptions, like their fathers they did 
most of the work themselves. They recognized the 
scripture distinction between pastors and evangelists, 
and rejoiced that the great Head of the church was 
raising up and sending out evangelists to preach the 
gospel and plant churches in our new and destitute 
settlements; but they did not seek much aid from 
preachers without charge, since familiarly called revi- 
valists. 

At the same time they were glad of such assist- 



210 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ance as God in Ms wisdom might please to send them. 
And as he in a former age raised up George White- 
field to help the pastors wherever he went, and they 
received him, so I must here record the grace of God 
in raising up, and so eminently qualifying Asahel 
Nettleton, to perform a similar service over a wide 
region where the revivals of which I am now to speak 
most remarkably prevailed. If there were others 
who were equally devoted, judicious, and helpful to 
pastors, I did not know them, and must leave it for 
those who did to name them. Mr. Nettleton's labors 
were so widely extended, so long continued, and so 
remarkably blessed, that it would be impossible for 
me, in my sketches of this period, not to refer to him 
often, as holding a high place among those whom God 
was pleased to honor in the conversion of souls. Pres- 
ident Dwight, whose pupil he was, and who knew 
him well, is reported to have said, " Nettleton will 
make one of the most useful men this country has 
ever seen." Of course, in the inspired sense of the 
term, this was not prophetic ; but Dr. Dwight was 
justly celebrated for his remarkable penetration of 
young men's talents and character. His judgment 
seemed to be almost intuitive, and it seldom failed. 

If there has been, since the days of the mighty 
elders in the Great Awakening, a preacher more suc- 
cessful in winning souls to Christ within the same 
number of years, than Nettleton, I have yet to learn 
his name, and what he did. I cannot refer to all the 
places where Mr. Nettleton labored, nor give the exact 
number, but it was very large — scores, I believe, where 
the revivals were very powerful, and most of which 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 211 

sprung up in immediate connection with his untiring 
labors. Wherever he went, as his Memoir and Ke- 
mains by Dr. Tyler show, the Lord went with him, 
working mightily in turning men from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan unto God. His 
great experience in revivals, his deep penetration 
of the workings of the human heart in all the stages 
of awakening and conviction, and with all its con- 
flicting exercises up to a comfortable hope in Christ, 
gave him an advantage, of which he availed himself 
to the full extent of his powers, which I am persuaded 
has rarely if ever been surpassed, and seldom equalled 
in these modern times. 

I verily believe that no great warrior ever stud- 
ied military tactics with more enthusiasm, or better 
understood the art of killing men with the sword of 
war, then Nettleton did how to wield the sword of 
the Spirit, to deliver them from captivity to sin and 
Satan, and save their souls. I am sure no warrior 
ever studied his art under so great a Teacher. No 
matter whether Nettleton had ever met an inquirer or 
caviller before or not, he seemed to see just where 
he stood, and how to address him at a glance. If all 
revivalists had the talent and wisdom and piety and 
meekness and deep Christian experience which he 
had, pastors with more work than they can do when 
God is pouring out his Spirit might safely receive 
them with open arms. But the ability to do what he 
did as a helper, and do it so well, is granted to very 
few. It is one of the most difficult services in which 
an itinerant popular preacher ever engaged, to go in 
and labor with pastors of ordinary standing, in revi- 



212 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

vals. It requires wisdom, prudence, and self forget- 
fulness, which very few of that class possess, so as not 
to do quite as much harm as good, by throwing the 
ministers whom they came to assist into the back- 
ground. Many a faithful pastor has been undermin- 
ed and dismissed, unintentionally we must believe, to 
the. great loss of the church, just in this way. Not 
so with Nettleton. Wherever he labored, he left the 
churches and their ministers stronger and more united 
than he found them. This was the universal testi- 
mony. I never knew or heard of an exception. Most 
manifest was it, that God had raised him up and kept 
him in this land for that very service, when he had 
set his heart upon a foreign mission. He labored 
with me three months in the most powerful revival 
that we ever, enjoyed, and for whatever I know of the 
means which G-od has been wont especially to bless 
in reviving his work, I am more indebted to him 
than to any other man, more than to all others put 
together. How he was regarded by other pastors 
with whom he labored, we shall see in their letters 
and narratives as we proceed. 

This renewed time of refreshing in the current 
century commenced, as I have said, about 1814, and 
as nearly as I am able to fix the dates, continued 
about thirty years, when the ways of Zion again went 
into mourning for a brief period, till the spirit of 
prayer was remarkably poured out upon the cities of 
New York, Philadelphia, and many other places, a 
little more than a year ago, of which more in its 
place. 

From 1814 to 1845, the spiritual harvests were 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 213 

more productive in some years than others — in some 
thirty-fold, in some sixty, and in some a hundred — a 
period which will ever be referred to as one of the 
most extraordinary hitherto in the religious history 
of our country. Not tens, nor scores, but hundreds 
of churches and congregations shared in those copious 
outpourings of the Spirit. We began to hope that 
these showers would henceforth continue to pour 
down righteousness, without any such intermissions 
as had so often occurred. Oh, it would be delightful 
to take a full survey of the great field while Christ 
was so gloriously triumphing everywhere, and to 
count the thronging trophies of his victories. 

But my limits warn me to confine myself to briefer 
sketches. The narratives of the revivals during the 
period to which we have now come, if they had all 
been fully written out, would fill many volumes. I 
have enough before me for hundreds of pages ; but 
all that I can do is to make a few selections from the 
mass, which is the less to be regretted as the essential 
leading features of these revivals, spreading over 
about one-third of the century, bore such striking 
resemblance, that to multiply testimonies would be to 
repeat nearly the same things. As I leave out vastly 
more than I shall put in, I see not how I can do 
better than to insert the substance of a few of these 
narratives, and then glean extracts from others as 
they come in my way. 

From Rev. Grardiner Spring, D.D., New York. 

Dr. Spring, in his closing sermon in the old Brick 
church in Beekman-street, May 25, 1856, recounting 
the dispensations of divine grace in connection with 



214 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

his ministry, which commenced August 8, 1810, pro- 
ceeds to say : 

" The thought has no doubt often crossed the 
minds of reflecting Christians, that those who have 
occupied a place on the earth during the last fifty 
years, have lived in a remarkable age of the world, 
not only as it respects science and the arts, and the 
progress of civil society, but in regard to the cause 
of vital piety. The period, commencing with the year 
1792, and terminating with 1842, was a memorable 
period in the history of the American church. Scarce- 
ly any portion of it, but was graciously visited by 
copious effusions of the Holy Spirit. From north to 
south, and from east to west, our male, and more 
especially our female academies, our colleges, and our 
churches drank largely of this fountain of living wa- 
ters. It was my privilege to enter upon the course 
of academical life not far from the meridian of this 
bright day. There were no subjects that interested 
my mind more deeply, when I began my ministry 
among this people, than those revivals of religion 
which passed over the land of my boyhood. This 
interest increased with time and official labors and 
responsibility, and exercised a most important influ- 
ence upon my whole course. Sparse clouds of mercy 
had been hovering over the congregation during the 
first four years of my ministry, and not a few, espec- 
ially of those in middle life, had been brought into 
the kingdom of God. 

"The year 1814 was a year of severe labor and 
deep solicitude — as it drew towards its close, of great 
discouragement and depression. It seemed to me 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 215 

that I must abandon my post, and that neither my 
mind, my heart, nor my health were adequate to its 
constantly accumulating duties. My intellectual re- 
sources seemed to be exhausted, and drained dry. 
Many a time, after preaching, did I remain long in 
the pulpit, that I might not encounter the faces of the 
people as I left the church ; and many a time when I 
left it did I feel that I could never preach another 
sermon. Yet I labored on week after week, without 
discovering to what extent the Spirit of God was 
carrying forward his own noiseless work. I per- 
ceived nothing to encourage me but an unusual en- 
largement and urgency in prayer, a greater facility 
in the selection of fitting themes for the pulpit, and 
more freedom and earnestness in declaring the whole 
counsel of God. God remarkably interposed to re- 
lieve my mind from its depression, and gave me such 
enlarged and delightful views of his truth, that my 
whole ministry received a new and cheered impulse. 
It was easy, also, to perceive that the spirit of grace 
and supplication was being poured out upon the peo- 
ple. The weekly prayer-meeting and the weekly lec- 
ture were full of interest. Days of fasting and prayer 
were occasionally observed, and a Saturday evening 
prayer-meeting was established by the young men of 
the congregation. Our Sabbaths became deeply sol- 
emn and affecting ; we watched for them like those 
who watch for the morning, and I verily believe we 
anticipated them with greater pleasure and expecta- 
tion than the sons and daughters of earth ever antici- 
pated their brightest jubilee. This was the first 
strongly marked revival of God's work among this 



216 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

people ; and I take this notice of it because it was so 
emphatic an expression of God's goodness to your 
young minister. Poor a thing as I have "been, and 
still continue to be. it was this work of grace which 
made me what I am — which gave me entirely new 
views of the great objects of the ministry, and made 
my work my joy. I loved it before, but never so 
ardently as then. But for this early season of mercy, 
during the summer of 1814, I do not see how I could 
have remained among you. It was the Lord's doing, 
and it is marvellous in our eyes. The ingathering 
was not great, but it was the finest of the wheat. I 
may not mentiou their names. 

"This was but the beginning of days of mercy. 
The commencement of the year 1815 was the dawn- 
ing of a still brighter day. The last Sabbath of the 
old year and the evening services of that Sabbath 
will be long remembered. Eight or ten persons, dur- 
ing the following week, were found to be awake, and 
in earnest for their salvation. The whole winter was 
a day of the right hand of the Most High. The cloud 
of mercy extended itself through the following spring 
and summer and autumn. In the month of Novem- 
ber the Bible-class was reorganized, the Saturday 
evening prayer-meeting was renewed, and G-od ap- 
peared to take the work into his own hands. There 
was complaint and hostility ; there were not wanting 
apprehensions in the minds of some of the pastors 
and churches in the city, that the work savored more 
of fanaticism than intelligent and sober thought. But 
the apprehensions were groundless. The blessing 
was near ; the sacred influence was silent as the dew 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 211 

of heaven. There was no outbreak and no disorder. 
There was prayer. There was solemn and earnest 
preaching. There were unexpected and unthought 
of instances of seriousness among the gay and frivo- 
lous, in the families of the rich as well as the poor, 
among the immoral as well as the moral, and many 
were the instances of conversion to God. The third 
Thursday of January was set apart by about thirty 
members of the church as a day of fasting, humilia- 
tion, and prayer. It was in a private house in the 
rear of St. Paul's, in Church-street ; and such a day 
I never saw before, and have never seen since. It 
was closed under strong and confident expectation 
that God was near, and that his Spirit was about 
largely to descend upon the people. And so it was. 
A delightful impulse was given to the work by this 
day of prayer. The promise was made good, 'Before 
they call I will answer, and while they are yet speak- 
ing I will hear. 7 The weekly lecture, attended on 
the evening of that day, was perhaps the most solemn 
service of my ministry. The subject of the discourse 
was suggested by the words, ' Marvel not that I said 
unto you, Ye must be born again.' God was with 
the hearers and the preacher ; his Spirit moved them 
as the trees of the forest are moved by a mighty 
wind. There is good reason to believe that the minds 
of more than one hundred persons were deeply im- 
pressed with a sense of their lost condition as sin- 
ners, and their need of an interest in Christ, on that 
evening. Enemies were silenced ; members of other 
churches came among us to see and mark the charac- 
ter of the work for themselves, and all classes were 

Rev. Ketches ] 



218 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

constrained to confess, 'This is the finger of God.* 
Between one and two hundred attended the meetings 
for religious inquiry and conversation, and deep so- 
lemnity pervaded the whole people. There was great 
eagerness for religious instruction, and great satisfac- 
tion in the soul-humiliating and soul-encouraging doc- 
trines of the cross. The work was rapid. The period 
of awakening and conviction in many instances was 
very short, so short that older Christians began to 
doubt the genuineness of such conversions. There 
was no reason for the doubt. Some of the brightest 
and most enduring Christians among us were those 
very persons whose conversion was almost as sudden 
as that of Saul of Tarsus. The gathering of this 
protracted harvest was rich, consisting sometimes of 
thirty and forty, and at one communion of more than 
seventy, filling the broad aisle of the church — a love- 
ly spectacle to God, angels, and men. 

" There have been five seasons of the especial out- 
pouring of God's Spirit upon this people during the 
ministry of their present pastor. They were inter- 
spersed between the years 1812 and 1834, more or 
less copious, but always seasons of delightful refresh- 
ing from the presence of the Lord. If the tree is 
known by its fruit, they are proved to have been the 
fruit of God's Spirit. The subjects of this work of 
grace have in almost all instances run well; they 
have turned out intelligent and active Christians. 
Many of them have been called to their last earth- 
ly rest ; nor shall I forget the blessedness and the 
blessed scenes of their last hours. Many of them 
are ministers of the gospel, and more the wives of 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 219 

ministers. Many of them are teachers and superin- 
tendents of Sabbath-schools. Many of them are rul- 
ing elders and deacons in other churches, while some 
remain in the honorable fulfilment of these offices 
among ourselves. Yery many of them are scattered 
through this wide land, and distant churches and the 
distant wilderness are made glad for them. I never 
was so gratefully impressed with this fact, and with 
the high privilege of preaching the gospel in this 
sanctuary, as on an unexpected tour through Western 
New York and the western states on the Upper Mis- 
sissippi. Everywhere I met those who remembered 
the young minister and the old Session-room. I heard 
of the death of some far away, and it was affecting 
to learn that in their last hours their thoughts of 
grateful praise were turned towards these scenes of 
mercy. 

" It will be found, by an inspection of our records, 
that after the separation of the Brick and Wall-street 
churches, and before the installation of the present 
pastor, the session were faithfully employed in acts 
of painful discipline. Church discipline is not less 
truly an ordinance of God than church communion. 
No church can prosper that connives at heresy or 
immorality among its communicants. This unwel- 
come duty was faithfully pursued for several years 
after my settlement among this people, and has been 
discharged with perfect unanimity ever since. In 
the early part of my ministry there were some avow- 
ed infidels in the church, who were the disciples of 
Paine and Palmer ; there were also avowed Univer- 
salists; there have been from time to time immoral 



220 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

men and licentious, whom no means could reclaim, 
and they have been cast out. It has often been at 
great sacrifice of feeling, and some of interest and 
influence, that these acts of discipline have been per- 
formed ; but however reluctantly and cautiously, it is 
a work which has been done." 

From Bishop Mcllvaine, of the diocese of Ohio. 

In closing a letter on revivals in 1832, Bishop 
Mcllvaine says, "I owe too much of what I hope for 
as a Christian, and what I have been blessed with as 
a minister of the gospel, not to think most highly of 
the eminent importance of promoting the spirit of 
genuine revivals. Whatever I possess of religion 
began in a revival. The most precious, steadfast, and 
vigorous fruits of my ministry have been the fruits of 
revivals. I believe that the spirit of revivals in the 
true sense, was the simple spirit of the religion of 
apostolic times, and will be more and more the char- 
acteristic of these times, as the day of the Lord draws 
near." 

The Bishop's annual address to the convention of 
the diocese of Ohio, in June, 1858, is chiefly devoted 
to the subject of the revival of religion, occasioned 
especially by " the blessed work of grace which God 
had so mercifully, and so widely and wonderfully 
vouchsafed to the churches of our land within the 
few preceding months." 

"It is more than forty years," he says, "since I 
first witnessed a revival of religion. It was in the 
college of which I was a student. It was powerful 
and pervading, and fruitful in the conversion of young 
men to God ; and it was quiet, unexcited, and entire- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 221 

ly free from all devices or means beyond the few 
and simple which God has appointed, namely, ' prayer 
and the ministry of the word.' In that precious sea- 
son of the power of God, my religious life began. I 
had heard before; I began then to know. I must 
doubt the deepest convictions of my soul, when I 
doubt whether that revival was the work of the Spirit 
of God. Many that have labored faithfully in the 
ministry, and are now at rest with the Lord; some 
that are still in the work; many whose mark has 
been strongly made upon their generation, on the side 
of the gospel, were the subjects of that work. Till 
Satan shall be bound, so that he cannot go about to 
deceive and devour, a work of religion more genuine, 
less perverted by human infirmities and devices, less 
dishonored by the defection of such as professed to 
have been born of God therein, is hardly to be ex- 
pected. 

"About the time of that revival, and for several 
years after, similar blessings were enjoyed in various 
communities of the land. They were, for the most 
part, equally simple, exhibiting numerous and decided 
conversions, elevating the spiritual character of Chris- 
tians, and sending forth many faithful men to be min- 
isters and missionaries of the gospel, at home and 
abroad." 

"During this period, our Episcopal churches, under 
a greatly extended and more earnest and evangelical 
ministry, were in many places favored of God with 
marked manifestations of the power of his Spirit; 
bowing the hearts of many persons, within a short 
space of time, to the obedience of Christ. I have 



222 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

nowhere seen more fruitful 'revivals of religion/ in 
which the conversions were more marked, the spirit- 
ual results more beneficial and permanent. How 
many of our clergy can tell of such movements under 
their labors, and bless God for their issues of life. 
And how many of them can point to revivals in Epis- 
copal churches as marking their spiritual birthdays." 
Proceeding to notice a period of several years of 
apparent unfruitfulness, in which " it seemed as if the 
preaching of the word had lost its power," he says, 
"Then it was, just in that time of rebuke and dark- 
ness, and apparent deep discouragement, that God's 
hand appeared and this present work of grace began. 
It began in our chief commercial centres, precisely 
where the credit of religion had been most impaired, 
and the tide against it was the strongest. It began 
in a remarkable indication, among persons deeply 
immersed in business cares, of a desire to meet to- 
gether for prayer. Its progress has exhibited the 
same simple features as its beginning. How widely 
it has gone over our land; how it has appeared in 
hundreds of our cities and villages almost simultane- 
ously, reaching all classes of population ; the same 
thing among all, silent, simple, subduing, harmoniz- 
ing, and uniting, making people love the word of God 
and prayer who never cared for them before, I need 
not tell you. I rejoice to know that our churches, in 
this diocese and in others, have largely p articipated 
in the blessing, and are gathering more and more 
fruit therefrom. Our diocesan college is thus favor- 
ed. Pray for it, my brethren, that all the youth 
therein may be turned to the Lord. Pray for our 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 223 

whole church, that no part of it may be unvisited in 
these 'times of refreshing from the presence of the 
Lord/" 

" You see a daily assemblage of intelligent people 
gathered from the walks of business, at an hour of 
the day which the world claims for its own interests, 
in some lecture-room or public hall, or Sunday-school- 
house: they pray with one another; they 'speak to 
one another in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs ;' 
they read a few verses of Scripture ; they exhort one 
another. If a minister be present, as often is the 
case, he addresses them for a few minutes : they thus 
pass an hour ; separating as punctually at its end, as 
they met at its beginning ; and this, added to the 
parochial work and exercises of the churches, is all 
the exterior instrumentality under G-od, on which 
this remarkable movement has made its march through 
the land. The strong tendency is, to strengthen a 
sense of the value and necessity of the regular min- 
istry, to enhance reverence for the old paths of gos- 
pel truth and ordinances, and greatly to increase the 
attendance upon the regular, sober services of the 
Sabbath, and of the judicious, faithful pastor. 

" There have been, in the American churches, re- 
vivals as pure and simple, and in their sphere, as 
effective for good. But we read of none of such ex- 
tent ; reaching at the same time so many people ; 
scattered over such a length and breadth of territory ; 
appearing in so many denominations of Christians, of 
widely separated ecclesiastical institutions ; leaven- 
ing so many colleges, and other institutions of educa- 
tion ; so penetrating with one and the same influence 



224 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

all gradations of society, from the most cultivated to 
the most unlettered; in cities and villages, in the 
counting-house of the merchant, in the workshop of 
the mechanic, in factories, in printing-offices, among 
classes of persons usually regarded as peculiarly re- 
moved from and fenced against the influence of gos- 
pel truth. How can we witness all this, and not see 
the hand of God, and take courage, and desire and 
pray for more and more of such manifestations of his 
grace?" 

One of the revivals in which Bishop Mcllvaine 
speaks of having labored, was in the apparently very 
unpromising field, the Military Academy at West 
Point, about 1826. Being called upon one day by a 
student who he thought would be as likely as any 
other to receive in good part a word of serious ex^ 
hortation, he presented him four tracts, two of which 
he requested him to read for his own personal benefit, 
and the other two to drop where some of his sceptical 
fellow-students would be likely to find them. 

The next Saturday another student called on him 
and said, " You do not know me, sir • my name is 

f and then burst into tears. For some time he 

could not utter a word. " My friend," said Mr. Mcll- 
vaine, "if, as I trust, your grief is connected with 
religion — if you desire to become a servant of God, 
be encouraged to open your heart to me, whose heart 
is already open to you." "I do desire to become a 
servant of God," said he; and deep emotion again 
prevented utterance. He soon related that he had 
found a tract in his room, the Death of an Infidel ; that 
he had not considered himself an infidel, but had been 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 225 

very profane, and in the habit of speaking lightly of 
religion. He not long after gave evidence that he 
had been born of God, and united himself to the com- 
munion of the church. 

This young man was then intent on the salvation 
of his fellow-student through whom he had received 
the tract ; and in a few days he brought him, leaning 
on his arm, to Mr. Mcllvaine, who threw around him his 
arms of Christian love. " I can hold out no longer," 
said the student ; " this is not the first time ; I have 
been often called ; I can hold out no longer. I will 
be a servant of God, his grace helping me, henceforth 
for ever." It was in reading the " Shepherd of Salis- 
bury Plain," that he first felt his heart expanded with 
love to God, and bursting with the spirit of prayer. 
These two young men became active members of the 
church of Christ; they labored faithfully in tract 
distribution and Sabbath-schools; by one of them a 
school of a hundred children was raised up where the 
gospel had scarcely ever been preached ; one of them 
established a weekly prayer-meeting among a people 
destitute of the means of grace ; by the instrumental- 
ity of one of them, as many as ten, who had been dread- 
fully wicked, were hopefully converted, and so chang- 
ed as to astonish their former companions. Both 
consecrated their lives to the ministry of the gospel, 
and one of them is now a bishop of the Protestant 
Episcopal church in the distant west. 

From Rev. Dr. Archibald Maclay, New York. 1809-1820. 

"From February, 1809, when eighteen members 
were constituted a Baptist church, and received the 
right-hand of fellowship from the venerable Kev. 



226 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

John Williams, father of Rev. Dr. William R. Will- 
iams, till December, 1820, 1 think it can be truly said 
that we enjoyed a perpetual revival. We were few 
in number, but it pleased the Lord to grant a spirit 
of grace and supplication. We felt an ardent and 
longing desire for the salvation of sinners, and cor- 
responding efforts were manifested. At that time we 
met in a large school-room in James-street, while 
erecting our first place of worship in Mulberry-street. 
The access to the school-room was inconvenient, but 
it was filled to overflowing, and became the birthplace 
of many precious souls. When we removed to our 
new place of worship, it was immediately filled, and 
the work of G-od in the conversion of sinners continued 
to increase. In a few years we rebuilt, on the same 
site, a house of double the size, and this too was filled 
to its utmost capacity. The Lord continued to bless 
the word, and conversions to G-od were multiplied. 
Almost every week, I was visited by individuals anx- 
iously inquiring, ' What must I do to be saved? How 
shall I escape the wrath to come?' During this pe- 
riod, I am persuaded that not less than five hundred 
were brought out of darkness into G-od's marvellous 
light. 

"A Sunday-school was established in 1810, under 
the instruction of Charles G-. Sommers and Joseph 
W. Griffiths, the first that was organized in this city, 
or so far as I know in the United States, exclusively 
for religious purposes. We afterwards organized 
three other Sunday-schools, one of them very large, 
in a destitute part of the city, under the care of Mr. 
David T. Yalentine, and all were well attended. I 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 221 

taught a Bible-class of young men on Monday even- 
ing, and a class of young ladies on Wednesday after- 
noon. I was accustomed to preach three times on 
the Lord's day. In the morning I usually expounded 
the Scriptures ; expounding in this way the whole 
New Testament and some portions of the Old, which 
proved very profitable both to me and my hearers. 
In the afternoon I generally preached for the instruc- 
tion and edification of Christians, and in the evening 
addressed more especially the unconverted. Our 
regular lecture on Tuesday evening, and our prayer- 
meeting on Friday evening were well attended and 
deeply interesting. The young people also met for 
prayer on Saturday evening. 

"During the period that I was pastor of the 
church, eighteen brethren were licensed to preach, 
and became useful ministers of the gospel ; and six or 
seven other brethren who were dismissed from us to 
other churches, also became preachers. Some of these 
are still living, and have labored in the cause of 
Christ for nearly half a century. 

" In my ministry it has been my aim to keep back 
nothing profitable to my hearers, but to declare unto 
them ' all the counsel of God.' The leading theme 
of my preaching has been Christ, and him crucified, 
as the only Saviour of lost sinners. I have shown the 
universal and total depravity of men; that every 
unconverted sinner is under the dominion of a carnal 
mind, which is enmity against God and not subject 
to his law ; that a change of heart, a heavenly birth, 
is absolutely necessary to see the kingdom of G-od 
and enter therein ; that the same power that created 



228 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

the world, and raised our Lord from the dead, must 
quicken the sinner dead in sins, and make him alive 
to God ; that if saved from sin and hell, it must be by 
free, sovereign, efficacious grace, through faith in the 
Lord Jesus Christ ; and that nothing can meet the 
necessities of a sinner awakened to a sense of his 
guilt by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, but what 
satisfied divine justice, the full atonement of Jesus 
Christ. 

" To guard my hearers against self-deception, I 
have insisted that true religion demands nothing 
short of entire conformity to the image of Christ, and 
obedience to all things that he has commanded. 

" Those that were converted to God during this 
revival, were brought generally to see and feel deeply 
the evil of sin as committed against God, and their 
just exposure to the wrath to come, and were led to 
renounce all dependence on works of their own, and 
rely alone for life and salvation on the great Ke- 
deemer. 

" Many of those who embraced the gospel at this 
period were young. One was only seven years old. 
She came to me in my study in great distress, asking 
if God could save her, for she had lived seven years 
without loving him, and all the time sinning against 
him. She united with the church, and has lived to 
train up a large family in the fear of God. Her grand- 
mother found Christ after she was ninety years of age. 
The great body of those who made a profession of 
religion, have continued in the faith, rooted and 
grounded in love, and have not been moved away 
from the hope of the gospel." 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 229 

From Rev. Dr. Hyde, Lee, Mass. 

"In the summer of 1821, there was an increase 
of solemnity in the church and congregation, and some 
were known to be anxious for their souls. The church 
often assembled for prayer, and in the month of Au- 
gust we observed a day of fasting. The hearts of 
many seemed to burn within them, and there were 
increasing indications from the rising cloud, of abun- 
dance of rain. At this interesting crisis, the Rev. 
Asahel Nettleton spent a few days with us. He 
preached five sermons to overflowing assemblies, and 
his labors were remarkably blessed. The Spirit' of 
God came down upon us, like a rushing mighty wind. 
Conversions were frequent, sometimes several in a 
day, and the change in the feelings and views of the 
subjects was wonderful. 

" At the suggestion of Mr. Nettleton, I now insti- 
tuted what are called inquiry meetings, and more than 
a hundred persons attended the first. These meet- 
ings, as I found them to be convenient, were continued 
through the revival ; and I have ever since made use 
of them, as occasion required, sometimes weekly for 
many months in succession. The church have always 
been requested to assemble for prayer in the upper 
room of the large school-house, in which these meetings 
have been held. In these meetings the ruined and 
helpless state of sinners, the exceeding wickedness 
of their hearts, and the awful consequences of neglect- 
ing the great salvation, have been impressed on the 
minds of the inquirers. They have not been directed 
to take any steps preparatory to their accepting of 
Christ; but repentance towards God and faith in 



230 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Christ have been enjoined upon them as their imme- 
diate duty and only safe course. No language can 
describe the deep feeling which has been manifested 
at some of these meetings. The work continued till 
the close of the year, and the church received an 
accession of eighty-six persons as the fruits of it. 

" Between this revival, and that which took place 
in 1827, the seasons of prayer in the church were 
frequent, and occasionally whole days of fasting and 
prayer which all the people were invited to attend, 
were observed. The church also by a large commit- 
tee visited every family in the town, and conversed 
with parents and children on the concerns of their 
souls, closing these interviews with prayer. This 
has been repeatedly done, and sometimes the whole 
has been accomplished in one day. 

" On the Sabbath preceding the first day of the 
year 1827, I invited the people, as it had been our 
practice, to assemble at the rising of the sun in the 
sanctuary, for the purpose of prayer and praise. Sev- 
eral hundreds attended, and an uncommon interest 
was evidently felt in the meeting. Another display 
of the all-conquering grace of God commenced, which 
was very powerful, and continued through the winter 
and spring. In the course of a few months it was 
found that thirty new domestic altars were erected. 
As the fruits of this revival, one hundred and twenty- 
five were added to the church. 

" The year 1831, which was a year memorable for 
the effusion of the Spirit in almost every part of the 
land, this people were not passed by. For a number 
of months the excitement was very great, and our 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 231 

meetings were frequent, crowded, and solemn. Some 
instances of conversion were more striking than any 
I had ever witnessed. The almighty and sovereign 
power of God was remarkably displayed, evincing 
the truth of his own declaration, ' I will have mercy 
on whom I will have mercy.' This revival was fol- 
lowed by the addition of forty-four members to the 
church. 

" Of the whole number received during my minis- 
try, six hundred and seventy-four, none have been 
admitted under two or three months after they began 
to hope they had passed from death unto life; and 
many chose to wait longer. "Whenever we have been 
favored with outpourings of the Spirit, meetings have 
been appointed with particular reference to the young 
converts, at which they have been freely conversed 
with respecting the ground and reason of their hope, 
that they might test their character by having the 
great truths of the gospel presented clearly to their 
view. A confession of faith has also been read and 
explained to them, and their full assent to it has been 
obtained, before they offered themselves to the church. 

" I have never countenanced the praying of women 
in promiscuous assemblies, whether great or small, 
from a full conviction that the practice is contrary 
to the spirit of the word of God. Neither have I 
seen it to be proper, even in seasons of the greatest 
excitement, to call upon impenitent sinners, either in 
public or private meetings, or in the inquiry room, 
to manifest their determination to seek religion or to 
give any pledge that they would do it. It would be 
a departure from the practice of Christ and his apos- 



232 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ties. In their preaching they inculcated repentance 
and submission to God as the immediate duty of 
sinners." 

From the Rev. Dr. Porter, Farmington, Conn. 

" The year 1821 was eminently, in Connecticut, 
a year of revivals. Between eighty and a hundred 
congregations were signally blessed. From the com- 
mencement of the year a new state of feeling began 
to appear in this town. On the first Sabbath in 
February I stated to the assembly the tokens of the 
gracious presence of God in several places in the 
vicinity, and urged the duties peculiarly incumbent 
on us at such a season. Professors of religion now 
began evidently to awake. In their communications 
with each other and with the world, they were led 
spontaneously to confess their unfaithfulness ; and 
about the same time a few without the church were 
pungently convicted. 

" In this state of things, Rev. Mr. Nettleton made 
us his first visit. His preaching, on the evening of 
the Lord's day, from Acts 2 : 37, was set home by the 
power of the Spirit upon the hearts of many ; and his 
discourse on the Wednesday evening following, from 
Gen. 6 : 3, was blessed to the conviction of a still 
greater number. As many zsjifty, it was afterwards 
ascertained, dated their first decided purpose of im- 
mediately seeking their salvation from that evening. 

"At a meeting of the anxious, on the evening of 
February 26, about a hundred and seventy were pres- 
ent. Here were persons of almost every age and 
class, some who a few weeks before had put the sub- 
ject of personal piety at a scornful distance, and 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 233 

others who had drowned every thought of religion 
in giddy mirth, now bending their knees together in 
supplication, or waiting in silent reflection for a min- 
ister of the gospel to pass along, and tell them indi- 
vidually what they must do. 

"From this time, so rapid was the progress of the 
work, that at the next similar meeting, March 12, a 
hundred and eighty were present, of whom fifty sup- 
posed that since the commencement of the revival, 
they had become reconciled to God ; and a week after- 
wards, I had the names of more than ninety who 
indulged the same persuasion concerning themselves. 

" The state of feeling which at this time pervaded 
the town, was interesting beyond description. There 
was no commotion, but a stillness in our very streets ; 
a serenity in the aspect of the pious, and a solemnity 
apparent in almost all, which forcibly impressed us 
with the conviction that in very deed God was in 
this place. Public meetings, however, were not very 
frequent. They were so appointed as to afford the 
opportunity for the same individuals to hear preach- 
ing twice a week, besides on the Sabbath. Occasion- 
ally there were also meetings of an hour, in the morn- 
ing or at noon, in private dwellings, at which the 
serious in the neighborhood were convened on short 
notice, for prayer and conference. The members of 
the church also met weekly for prayer, and common- 
ly on the evenings selected for the meetings of the 
anxious. From these meetings, the people retired di- 
rectly, and with little communication with each other, 
to their homes. They were disposed to be much alone, 
and to take the word of God for their guide. 



234 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

" The topics principally insisted on in this revival, 
were the unchangeable obligations of the divine law, 
the deceitful and entirely depraved character of the 
natural heart, the free and indiscriminate offers of 
the gospel, the reasonableness and necessity of imme- 
diate repentance, the refuges and excuses to which 
awakened sinners are accustomed to resort, and the 
manner, guilt, and danger of slighting, resisting, and 
opposing the operations of the Holy Spirit. 

" Among the first subjects of the work, there was 
a large proportion of the more wealthy and intelli- 
gent. A considerable number of youths belonging to 
this class, had just finished a course of biblical instruc- 
tion, for which I had met them weekly for more than 
a year, who, with scarcely an exception, at the very 
commencement of the revival embraced the gospel 
which they had learned, and by their experience of 
its power commended it to the families to which 
they belonged. I suppose that within three months, 
there were about two hundred and fifty persons who 
hoped they had passed from death unto life. On the 
first Sabbath in June, a hundred and fourteen were 
added to the church; and at subsequent periods a 
hundred and twenty more. Many have died, and 
many have removed from our immediate connection ; 
but those who remain, now constitute the chief 
strength of the church." 

From Rev. Dr. Tenney, of Wethersfield, Conn. April, 1822. 

"Previous to the revival, our church consisted of 
about two hundred and sixty members. As its fruits, 
precisely two hundred more have been added, of whom 
seventy-nine are heads of families. Sixty-two are 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 235 

males, and thirty-two are young unmarried men. A 
number of others have indulged hope. Generally the 
subjects of the work still appear well. 

" Some instances of conversion have been strongly 
marked. The awakening of some has been sudden 
and powerful, and has soon issued in triumphant 
peace. In others it has been as the 'still small voice. 7 
One individual who had been a total disbeliever in 
revelation, began to examine the subject of religion 
with all the coolness of a mathematician ; till, in the 
course of a few weeks, the great truths of Scripture 
bore upon his conscience with insupportable power, 
and had almost that ' keen vibration through his soul, 
which makes hell;' and his heart yielded to God. 
One aged man said, If I have been born of God, it 
was on the day when I was seventy-six years old. 
Another said, It was the day when I was sixty-eight. 
In one family, a mother of eleven children, who had 
long gone to the table of Christ mourning that of 
her great family there was not one to accompany her, 
now hopes that eight of her children are the children 
of God. In another family consisting of parents and 
seven children, all have indulged hope, except one 
son who was absent at sea. A widow, the mother of 
seven children, some of them pious before, now has 
hope of all the others. The whole family now belong 
to the church. 

" Greatly are we indebted to a number of neigh- 
boring ministers whose labors were of great use. 
Peculiar are our obligations to the Rev. Asahel Net- 
tleton, who was much with us, and whose labors were 
eminently blessed, reminding us of 'the chariots of 



236 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Israel, and the horsemen thereof.' Though in this 
work there has been the strongest coincidence be- 
tween the means used and the success, and between 
the prayerfulness of Christians and the conviction 
and conversion of sinners, yet God has displayed his 
glorious sovereignty, as well as faithfulness. The 
work is emphatically his. To him all the glory is 
due. To him let it be given, now and evermore." 

From Rev. Dr. Ashbel Grreen, late President of the College 
of New Jersey at Princeton, to E,ev. Dr. Sprague. 

After glancing at the earlier history of the col- 
lege, Dr. Green says, "In the spring of 1782, when 
I became a member of the institution, the walls of the 
building were still perforated in a number of places, 
the effect of the cannon balls which had passed through 
them from the artillery of the American army, to 
drive out a British foe that had taken shelter there. 

" While I was a member of college there were but 
two professors of religion among the students, and 
not more than five or six who scrupled to use profane 
language in common conversation. To the influence 
of the American war succeeded that of the French 
revolution, still more pernicious. The open and 
avowed infidelity of Paine, and other writers of the 
same character, produced incalculable injury to relig- 
ion and morals throughout our whole country; and 
its effect on young men who valued themselves for 
genius, and were fond of novel speculations, was the 
greatest of all. Dr. Smith, then President of the col- 
lege, told me that one man who sent his son, stated 
explicitly in a letter that not a word was ever to be said 
to him on the subject of religion. The youth was re- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 237 

fused admittance. The tendency to dissipation and 
dissolute morals which had long prevailed, had risen 
to a most fearful height when I was called to the 
presidency in the autumn of 1812." 

After two years of faithful and abundant labors 
to effect a reformation, he perceived that " there was 
a marked attention to the religious duties of the col- 
lege. Every religious service was attended with a 
solemnity that was very impressive. In the second 
week of January, 1815, without any unusual occur- 
rence in providence, without any alarming event, 
without any extraordinary preaching, without any 
special instruction, or other means that might be sup- 
posed peculiarly adapted to interest the mind, the 
effect became more apparent. In about four weeks 
there were very few individuals in the college who 
were not deeply impressed with a sense of the impor- 
tance of spiritual and eternal things. There was 
scarcely a room, perhaps not one, which was not a 
place of earnest secret devotion. For a time it seem- 
ed as if the whole of our charge was pressing into 
the kingdom of God. The result was, that of one 
hundred and five students, there were more than forty 
in regard to whom favorable hopes were entertained 
that they were the subjects of renewing grace. 

"The means which were employed and blessed of 
God in producing the revival, were chiefly the study 
of the holy Scriptures, accompanied with comments 
on the portion read, and practical application of the 
leading truths contained in it. God has remarkably 
honored and blessed his word. Appropriate ad- 
dresses were frequently made, and the public exer- 



238 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

cises were conducted with a special view to religious 
edification. 

"The few youths who were previously pious had 
for more than a year been earnestly engaged in 
prayer for this event. When they perceived the 
general and increasing seriousness, several of them 
agreed to speak privately and tenderly to their par- 
ticular acquaintances on the subject of religion ; and 
what they said was in almost every instance not only 
well received, but those with whom they conversed 
became earnestly engaged in those exercises which it 
is hoped have issued in genuine piety. 

"In preaching on the Lord's day morning, sub- 
jects were selected suited to the existing state of the 
college ; a weekly lecture, intended for the students 
exclusively, was given every Tuesday evening; a 
prayer-meeting was held every Friday evening, at 
which one of the theological professors commonly 
made an address ; a prayer-meeting was every even- 
ing held by the students themselves, at which a large 
proportion of the whole college attended; smaller 
and more select associations for prayer were also 
formed; the individuals whose minds were anxious 
were, as often as they requested it, carefully con- 
versed and prayed with in private ; writings of ap- 
proved character on doctrinal and practical religion 
were recommended, and a short system of Questions 
and Counsel* was drawn up by myself for the use of 
those who appeared to have entered on a life of prac- 
tical piety. 

* These Questions and Counsel constitute No. 113 of the 
American Tract Society's series. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 239 

"The fruits of this revival were happy and last- 
ing ; for although a number lost their impressions, yet 
there are a goodly number now in public life who are 
bringing forth the fruits of that renovated nature 
which was imparted to them by the gracious Spirit 
of God in this revival. I once counted the number 
of ministers of the gospel whose conversion was be- 
lieved to have taken place at that time. I forget 
what the number was, but I remember I thought it 
greater than that produced on any similar occasion 
in Nassau-hall. 

"There were two other periods during my presi- 
dency, at which hopes were excited that we were on 
the eve of another general revival. But though the 
favorable appearances passed away without realizing 
this hope, it was not without leaving several monu- 
ments of divine grace, some of them very remarka- 
ble. May God soon grant a general revival to an 
institution consecrated by its founders to the promo- 
tion of science in union with piety, and in behalf of 
which many fervent prayers, both of the living and 
the dead, have ascended to the throne of mercy." 

From Rev. Dr. John McDowell, Elizabethtown, New Jersey. 
1812-1825. 

In a letter to Rev. Dr. Sprague, Dr. McDowell 
gives a record of revivals in 1772 and 1784; and one 
in 1807, which apparently commenced in connection 
with " a powerful sermon on prayer by the Rev. Dr. 
Gideon Blackburn/ 7 and continued about eighteen 
months, as the fruits of which about one hundred and 
twenty were added to the church. He proceeds to 
say: 



240 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

"Another revival visibly commenced in December, 
1812. It was on a communion Sabbath. There was 
nothing peculiarly arousing in the preaching. I was 
not expecting such an event. I saw nothing unusual 
in the appearance of the congregation ; and it was 
not until after the services of the day were ended, 
when several called in deep distress to ask me what 
they should do to be saved, that I knew that the 
Lord was specially in this place. This was a day of 
such power, (though I knew it not at the time,) that 
as many as thirty who afterwards joined the church, 
were then first awakened. And it is a remarkable 
circumstance, that the same powerful influence was 
experienced on the same day in both of the Presby- 
terian churches in the neighboring town of Newark. 
It was also communion-season in both those churches. 
This revival continued about a year ; and the number 
of persons added to the communion of this church as 
its fruits, was about one hundred and ten. 

"About the beginning of February, 1817, this 
church was again visited with a great revival of re- 
ligion. It commenced most signally, as an immediate 
answer to the united prayers of God's people. The 
session, impressed with a sense of the comparatively 
low state of religion among us, agreed to spend an 
afternoon together in prayer. The congregation were 
informed of this on the Sabbath, and a request made 
that Christians would at the same time retire to their 
closets, and spend a season in prayer for the influen- 
ces of the Spirit to descend upon us. The season 
appointed was the next afternoon ; and that evening 
was the monthly concert of prayer, which was unusu- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 241 

ally full and solemn; and before the week was out, 
it was manifest that the Lord was in the midst of us, 
in a very special manner. Many cases of awakening 
came to my knowledge, and the work soon spread 
throughout the congregation. This revival was mark- 
ed, not by the deep distress of the preceding, but by 
a general weeping in religious meetings. There was 
doubtless much of sympathy. A larger proportion 
than usual of the subjects were young, and many of 
them children. Some were long in darkness, but 
most of them, muah sooner than in either of the former 
revivals of my ministry, professed to have embraced 
the Saviour. The number in the congregation who 
appeared to be seriously impressed, amounted to sev- 
eral hundreds. The special attention continued about 
a year; and the number added to the communion of 
the church was about one hundred and eighty. 

"At the close of the year 1819, it pleased a gra- 
cious God to grant to this church another season of 
special refreshing, which continued about a year ; and 
the number added to the communion of the church as 
its fruits, was about sixty. 

"In the early part of the year 1824, there was 
a considerable increase of attention to the subject of 
religion, which continued through the year 1825. 
About sixty were added to the communion of the 
church during this time, as the fruits of this special 
influence. But the work did not terminate with this 
ingathering. These were but as drops before a mighty 
shower. About the beginning of December, 1825, 
the work was greatly increased. It commenced visi- 
bly on a day of fasting and prayer, appointed by the 

»ev. Sketches 11 



242 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

synod of New Jersey, on account of the absence of 
divine influences from their churches generally. With- 
in a few weeks many were awakened and brought to 
seek the Lord. This revival, with few exceptions, 
was not marked by deep distress, and the subjects of 
it generally, soon professed to hope in Christ. It 
continued through the year 1826, during which time 
about one hundred and thirty were added to the com- 
munion of this church, as its fruits." 

EEVIVAL IN PITTSFIELD, MASS., AS WITNESSED BY 
THE AUTHOR, IN 1821. 

The most extensive and powerful revival that I 
have ever witnessed, took place in Pittsfield, Mass., 
in the summer of 1821. We had enjoyed a cheering 
time of refreshing the year before, which brought in 
about fifty additions to the church; but it reached 
very few of the prominent and influential members 
of the congregation, and there were but few of that 
class then in the church. That first revival had ap- 
parently come to a close, and the fruits had been 
mostly gathered in, before the opening of the spring 
of 1821. The strong men had not bowed themselves 
at the foot of the cross, and we were afraid that be- 
fore another such season should return, many of them 
would be in their graves. 

It was about the middle of May, that the Rev. 
Asahel Nettleton, who had been for several years 
laboring in revivals with wonderful success, came un- 
expectedly to make me a visit, and as he said, "to 
rest a while;" for he was very much worn down by 
his almost incredible labors. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 243 

His fame as a revival preacher had come before 
him. Though he kept himself close, it soon became 
known that he was here, and many were anxious to 
hear him, as much from curiosity perhaps as any 
thing else. Though I knew his need of the rest which 
he came to find in the bosom of my family, I rather 
urged him to gratify them by preaching once, if no 
more. He declined, till after two Sabbaths, I think, 
when, as I was providentially absent, the funeral of a 
child on a week-day brought him out. There was a 
large gathering, and I presume he saw something 
which indicated the return of the Holy Spirit, though 
nobody else did. The next Sabbath he preached 
once, and it seemed evident to him at least, that the 
Spirit was moving upon some during the services of 
the day. These indications gradually increased, till 
the church began to be encouraged with the hope 
that we might have another revival, which all felt 
was greatly needed ; for many more were left, than 
had been taken the preceding year. Mr. Nettleton 
saw by this time, if not before, that here was harvest 
work to be done, and that he must not rest too long. 
He remained with us about three months, including 
one or two short visits to neighboring fields, which 
were white for the reapers. 

I published a narrative of the work the next year 
in the Christian Intelligencer, the substance of which 
I shall repeat, though I have it not now before me. 
And I shall venture to give it more at length, than I 
can find room for any other revival of those remarka- 
ble years of the outpouring of the Spirit — not because 
the number of converts was greater, or so great as in 



244 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

some other places, but because I was an eye-witness 
and a coworker in the field of divine wonders ; and 
also, as at the critical stage of the revival the great 
adversary did his best to stop it, to show how signal- 
ly God defeated him. 

The revival did not break out suddenly, as has 
been often the case, but there was a growing solem- 
nity visible in the congregation, which quite early in 
June encouraged us to let it be known, in a still way, 
that we should be happy to meet any who might be 
disposed to come to my house for a short meeting 
the next evening. It was understood to be for in- 
quirers, if there were any. A larger number than 
we had dared to expect came, and it was noticeable 
that most of them were from the more prominent and 
leading families in the village. We could not help 
regarding this as a favorable omen, most of them 
having been passed by in the former revival. It was 
a sort of test meeting, and from that time the work 
advanced and spread rapidly ; but not without excit- 
ing opposition on the part of some who were capable 
of wielding a wide influence. 

Something they thought must be done to check 
the epidemic, before it should come into their fami- 
lies, and get beyond control. What should it be? 
It would not be safe to come out openly, as so many 
were already asking what they must do to be saved. 
St. John's day, as it was called, (June 25,) was near 
at hand ; and it was resolved to hold, in Pittsfield, a 
grand festival of all the masonic lodges round about. 
We could not say that the ruling motive on the part 
of those who sent out the invitation, was to put a 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 245 

stop to the revival ; but the movement was so sudden, 
that, taken in connection with all the circumstances, 
it looked very much like it. 

A very popular speaker, who had once been an 
approved minister of the gospel, was engaged to come 
and deliver the oration. We were distressed. We 
exceedingly feared that such a gathering would divert 
the minds of the people from the great salvation 
which was then so freely offered ; but we could not 
prevent it. The occasion called for earnest prayer 
for direction, and that God would graciously inter- 
pose and prevent the dreaded consequences. One 
thing we could do. The orator chosen had, as I have 
just said, once been a minister. We — Mr. Nettleton 
and myself — addressed him a joint letter, saying we 
understood he had engaged to come ; that there was 
a very interesting revival in progress here, which we 
presumed he had not heard of; that we did not write 
to dissuade him from coming, but that we hoped he 
would give his discourse such a shape as to interfere 
as little as possible with the work of the Lord. He 
came. The day was very fine. The anniversary was 
very largely attended by the masons from all quar- 
ters. The church was crowded. We were there, 
and greatly relieved. The discourse was more like 
a sermon than a popular oration. There was noth- 
ing in it to which we could object, but a good deal 
which was rather calculated to promote the revival 
than to check it. We thanked God, and took cour- 
age. 

The masons were astonished. What could it 
mean? They were so excited, that they could not 



246 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

help expressing their disappointment to the speaker, 
and asking him what he meant. He excused himself 
by saying that he had been induced to give that 
religious shape to his address by a letter which Mr. 
Nettleton and I had written him. This brought down 
upon us a storm of vituperation for our interference. 
But the Lord was on our side. He had undertaken 
to accomplish a great work in Pittsfield, and neither 
earth nor hell could prevent it. We could not see 
that the masonic festival hindered the revival at all. 

But the disappointment and opposition were soon 
manifested in another form. The people of the town 
had been in the habit, on the fourth of July, of cele- 
brating the declaration of American Independence, 
ever since it was declared; and at the close of each 
festival with toasts and speeches and drums and can- 
non, to appoint a committee to make arrangements 
for the next year. Such a committee had been ap- 
pointed the year before. As the revival was now 
becoming general and powerful, we were very desir- 
ous of having a religious celebration, and inviting 
our friends in the county to come in and enjoy it with 
us. I accordingly inquired of the committee whether 
it was their intention to have the usual festive cele- 
bration ; stating that, if it might be dispensed with 
under the present unusual circumstances, we should 
be glad to substitute a religious service, and that we 
found a great many were in favor of it. The com- 
mittee cheerfully assented to the proposal, and we 
made our arrangements accordingly. 

Thus, as to the regular arrangements, the matter 
was settled in our favor ; and we supposed there would 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 247 

be no interruption. But we were mistaken; those 
who wanted the customary noisy celebration, deter- 
mined not to be deprived of it. So the young men 
resolved to have an oration and a dinner at the usual 
hours. - How far they were encouraged by some older 
men opposed to the revival, did not openly appear ; 
but that they were to some extent, was not doubted 
at the time. The oration was delivered in the fore- 
noon, and at two o'clock our public meeting was held. 
The meeting-house had never been filled with a more 
serious and respectable congregation. The day was 
fine, and a large number of our friends from abroad 
were there. I tried to persuade Mr. Nettleton to 
preach; but as he positively declined, I was obliged 
to make the best preparations I could. My text was, 
" If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." 
John 8 : 36. 

Though there was some noise outside from the 
commencement of the services, it did not appear that 
there was any intention to disturb us, till the sermon 
was about half through. Becoming impatient when 
the guests had finished their dinner, and loaded the 
four pounder, and got primed for the toasts, they first 
sent their band with drums and fifes to march round 
the house, and warn us that it was time to close and 
leave the ground. One or two gentlemen went out 
to remonstrate, but they were disregarded. I went 
on with my discourse, and I believe made myself 
heard. 

Finding that their martial music did not succeed, 
they determined next to try what powder would do. 
The first discharge was so unexpected, that it almost 



248 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

started the whole congregation from their seats. The 
high-sheriff of the county, with one or two of our 
most respectable citizens, went out to persuade them 
to desist ; but they would not. Many within turned 
pale, but none of the audience retired. By the third 
round they were entirely composed, and a more sol- 
emn assembly I never looked upon. How many 
rounds were discharged I cannot remember, but as 
the cannonading went on, and I drew towards the 
close of my written discourse, it came so aptly in 
my way that I couldn't help adding something to the 
improvement, by contrasting the liberty wherewith 
Christ makes his children free, with the bondage of 
Satan's servants without. This I suppose added ten 
or fifteen minutes to the length of my discourse, after 
which Dr. Shepard of Lenox closed with prayer, and 
the evening lecture was appointed from the desk. 
The great audience then retired as if nothing had 
happened, only more deeply impressed. 

As we went out, the sheriff expressed his determi- 
nation to make the disturbers smart for it; but I 
begged him to do no such thing : " They have not 
injured us, but shot themselves dead, and don't med- 
dle with their remains : ' The Lord of hosts is with 
us, the G-od of Jacob is our refuge.'" And so it 
proved. It needed no enemy to spike their cannon, 
or to scatter them. Whereas, on all former celebra- 
tions here, the noise was kept up to a late hour in 
the evening, the green was now entirely forsaken by 
sundown, and the stillness of the evening throughout 
the village was like the Sabbath. The lecture at 
half-past seven was crowded, and unusually solemn. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 249 

It was on that occasion, that Mr. Nettleton took for 
his text those urgent words of the angels to Lot, " Up, 
get ye out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this 
city ;" and so vivid was his description of that sudden 
and awful destruction, that not a few of the audience 
involuntarily turned their faces to the windows, as 
if the storm of fire and brimstone had actually come 
down upon the place. 

Taken altogether, the triumph of the day and the 
evening was truly sublime. It was wonderful to wit- 
ness with what power the Spirit of God triumphed. 
A new impulse was given to the revival. From that 
time, there was no more open opposition to the work. 
Whatever any might have felt, they were afraid to 
show it. Some of those who had been active, if not 
ringleaders in the disturbance, were afterwards hope- 
fully converted. The work went on with great power 
through the months of July and August, and extended 
far into the autumn. It was such a summer as Pitts- 
field never saw before, nor since. 

The narrative would be quite incomplete if I were 
to close it here. In all revivals God works by means 
and instruments, and some may be glad to know what 
course was here adopted. 

In the first place it was fully understood between 
Mr. Nettleton and myself, that as I was the pastor, 
he was to be the helper, and not the main director. 
He could not have been persuaded to make the ap- 
pointments, and tell me when and where I should aid 
him. He was not the man for that anywhere, and if 
he had been, I certainly should not have come into 

any such arrangement. I always consulted him as a 

11* 



250 EEVIVAL SKETCHES. 

matter of course, for he knew incomparably better 
than I did, what means had been most successful in 
the progress of revivals. But it was my parish, and 
not his. In placing me here, the Head of the church 
had devolved upon me a responsibility, which I did 
not feel at liberty to throw off. And with this un- 
derstanding, I do not believe that any two preachers 
ever labored more harmoniously together than we 
did. 

Our general course of preaching and incidental 
labors was as follows : Three discourses on the Sab- 
bath, one of which was always in the evening. Two 
public lectures on week-day evenings, preceded by a 
short prayer-meeting a little before sundown ; occa- 
sional lectures and prayer-meetings in the outdis- 
tricts, one object of which was to bring as many as 
we could to attend the central lectures ; an inquiry 
meeting every Monday evening, and a church prayer- 
meeting at the same hour. Besides these, a great 
many smaller neighborhood meetings were attended, 
connected with visiting from house to house as we 
could find time. I also held a meeting once a week 
with as many aged members of my flock, who were 
not professors of religion, as I could collect, and there 
is reason to hope that some of them were brought in 
at the eleventh hour. 

In our discourses in season and out of season, we 
did not shun to declare " all the counsel of God," as 
we understood it. Mr. Nettleton's preaching was 
"not in the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in 
demonstration of the Spirit and with power." It was 
plain, earnest, direct, searching, driving the sinner 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 251 

from all his refuges ; now making the law thunder as 
but few preachers can, and then from a full heart 
pouring out the melting invitations of the gospel. 
Though there were diversities of operations, for the 
most part the converts were led to Calvary by the 
way of Sinai. They experienced a law work before 
they closed in with the terms of the gospel. " When 
the commandment came, sin revived, and they died ;" 
and when the Spirit raised them to a new life, they 
lived all the better for it. 

The subjects of the work were chiefly heads of 
families ; some of them below, and not many of them 
much above middle age. They were in the midst of 
life, and more than any equal number of the congre- 
gation exercised a controlling influence in the com- 
munity. Among them were our principal lawyers, 
doctors, merchants, and men of standing and busi- 
ness in the town. And it was very interesting to 
notice how, as they were brought out one after an- 
other, they went at once and reported to their friends 
of the same class what a Saviour they had found, 
urging them to come to the meetings and see. It 
reminded us of the manner in which the disciples of 
Christ were brought to him one after another, as 
recorded in the first chapter of John. "John (the 
Baptist) stood, and two of his disciples ; and looking 
upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, ' Behold the Lamb 
of God ! and they followed Jesus. One of the two 
who heard John speak and followed him, was An- 
drew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his 
own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have 
found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the 



252 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. The day fol- 
lowing Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth 
Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Philip find- 
eth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found 
him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did 
write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And 
Nathanael said unto him, Can any good thing come 
out of Nazareth ? Philip saith unto him, Come and 
see." So it was here, and so it ought always to be 
in a revival. Just as soon as Andrew finds the Sav- 
iour, he should go and bring in Peter. So Philip 
should find Nathanael, and bring him also to Christ, 
that they may all rejoice together in their disciple- 
ship. 

In the progress of the revival, a great many inci' 
dents occurred which heightened the interest of the 
work, but I have room for only two. 

One Monday morning early, a colored woman 
about forty years old came to my house bowed down 
as if by some great calamity. " Dinah," I said, " I am 
glad to see you ; but what is the matter ?" " Oh, I 
don't know, but I feel dreadfully." " How long have 
you felt so ?" " Ever since yesterday, when you was 
preaching it seemed as if a knife was stuck right into 
my heart." How could I help calling to mind in- 
stantly, Peter's sermon on the day of pentecost? 
"When they heard this, they were pricked in their 
hearts, and cried' out, Men and brethren, what shall 
we do?" Here was a poor woman who had been 
brought up a slave, and could not read a word, feel- 
ing just as they did, and using nearly the same lan- 
guage, without knowing or suspecting it. How could 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 253 

I doubt, how can anybody doubt, that if it was the 
Spirit of God that pricked the hearts of Peter's hear- 
ers, it was the same Spirit that seemed like a knife 
piercing Dinah's heart; corresponding too as it did 
with that other scripture, "The word of God is quick 
and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword." 
Though Dinah couldn't tell what ailed her, I soon 
found that she was in deep distress for her soul. She 
of course needed a great deal of instruction ; but in a 
few weeks she was brought out of darkness into mar- 
vellous light, joined the church, and adorned her pro- 
fession to the day of her death. 

The other was the case of an ignorant, swearing, 
intemperate man, one of the vilest of the vile, who 
rarely, if ever, attended public worship anywhere. 
One Sabbath afternoon, in the midst of the revival, 
he strayed into the church ; he could not tell why ; 
took his seat near the door so that he could easily 
slip out, but remained quiet till the sermon commenc- 
ed. The words of my text were, It is the last time. 
As he said afterwards, it struck him to the heart, 
and threw him into the greatest agitation. His first 
thought was, that he would go at once to the tavern 
and drive it off with a dram. But somehow he found 
himself fastened to his seat till the meeting closed, 
and then he knew not where to go, or what to do. 
The arrow had struck too deep to be extracted by 
any but a divine hand. A scene of terrible distress 
followed. For a number of days he was almost in 
the horrors of despair. Prayer was offered continu- 
ally for him, and he was assured that the mercies of 
God were not clean gone for ever, if he would repent 



254 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

and cast himself upon Christ to wash away his sins. 
How long he remained in this condition I do not 
remember, but at length light began gradually to 
break in upon his mind. He embraced a humble 
hope that God had brought him up out of the horri- 
ble pit and the miry clay, and after a probation of 
several months he gave such evidence of a saving 
change that he was received into the church, and as 
those who knew him best believed, he died a true 
penitent. 

Though the revival commenced early in the sum- 
mer, as I have already stated, none of the subjects of 
it were received into the church till at our regular 
communion-season, the first Sabbath in November. 
My judgment was and still is, that as a general rule, 
it is best that hopeful converts should take consider- 
able time to test the genuineness of their hopes, before 
making a public profession. It appeared to me that 
the candidates for membership, as a body, needed a 
good deal of instruction to prepare them for an intel- 
ligent profession of their faith in Christ. 

Accordingly, besides conversing with them indi- 
vidually touching the reasons of the hojfe' that was 
in them, I called them together in a body, and spent 
several evenings in explaining to them our confession 
of faith and covenant, article by article, and exhort- 
ing them to be fully persuaded in their own minds, of 
the scriptural basis of our creed, before subscribing 
to it; and I have reason to think that no evenings 
were more profitably spent than these. They afford- 
ed full scope for asking and answering questions, and 
examining proof- texts ; and I am not aware of a sin- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 255 

gle case of departure from " the form of sound words," 
as we believed them to be, in our articles. 

When the converts presented themselves for ad- 
mission, they were examined one by one, by the pas- 
tor and a committee, in presence of as many of the 
church as chose to attend, to which no one of the 
number made any objection. When the time arrived 
for their admission, that Sabbath-day was a high day. 
Nothing like it had ever been witnessed in the histo- 
ry of the church. I think the number who came for- 
ward was eighty-Jive; and to see the long broad aisle 
filled, from the communion-table down to the door, 
with disciples hastening as it were to meet their Mas- 
ter for the first time at his table, was a spectacle 
which caused the aged fathers and mothers to weep 
for joy, and filled the great congregation with won- 
der and awe. While there were persons of all classes 
and different ages standing together to take upon 
themselves the vows of their consecration, what made 
the scene uncommonly impressive was, that there 
were so many husbands and wives of our most influ- 
ential families — so many men in and out of the pro- 
fessions, who, from their position in society, would 
have it in their power to exert so wide an influence 
in the cause of Christ, and for the good of the town. 

Though in the providence of God I was called 
two years after to leave my beloved charge, and labor 
in another field,* I was near enough to keep myself 
advised of the Christian walk of that large band of 
professors ; and having long since returned to reside 
in Pittsfield, it affords me the highest satisfaction to 
* The presidency of Amherst college. 



256 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

be able to say, that now, at the end of thirty-seven 
years from the time of their public espousals to Christ, 
there has not, so far as I can learn, been a single case 
of apostasy from the faith once delivered to the saints, 
nor of yielding to the mastery of any of those habits 
which disgrace the Christian name, and drown men 
in destruction and perdition. There was indeed one 
of the number, who for a time was in great danger 
of being brought into bondage again to bad habits 
from which he had been reclaimed, insomuch that 
the church stood in doubt of him, but he did not 
utterly fall away; he was reclaimed, and gave evi- 
dence that God had restored him from his backslid- 
ings, and that he died in the faith. 

To the foregoing account I venture to append a 
few brief extracts of a letter to the editor of the 
Charleston, S. C, Intelligencer, from a gentleman 
who was present at the meeting on the fourth of 
July. 

" The opposers of the revival, finding that a relig- 
ious celebration was agreed on, resolved to have a 
political celebration. They occupied the church in 
the. morning. At two o'clock they who loved the 
Lord began to assemble in the same place. The 
church was crowded. While the people were assem- 
bling, and as they passed near the rioters, crackers 
were repeatedly exploded to annoy them. The ser- 
vice began and went sweetly on. Mr. H , pas- 
tor of the church, took his text from John 8 : 36, " If 
the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free in- 
deed.' Towards the close of the sermon the word 
fire was heard, and our ears were suddenly stunned 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 25? 

by the report of a cannon. It was the attack of the 
adversary, and well kept up. But unfortunately for 
him, every shot preached louder than ten thousand 
thunders. Meanwhile the drums beat, the fifers play- 
ed as they marched back and forth before the church- 
door, animated by the music of the cannon, and the 
hope of a glorious triumph over the cause of God. 

" Some few Christians of delicate frame and quick 
sensibilities were agitated and alarmed, and others, 
though not intimidated, dreaded the consequences of 
this violent attack; but generally there were high 
hopes that it would be overruled for good. And so 
it was. So skilfully did the preacher allude to, and 
apply his discourse to the conduct of the opposition 
out of doors — such advantage did he take of every 
blast of the cannon, and every play of the drum y by 
some well-pointed remark — that it went like a two- 
edged sword to the hearts of listening sinners. In- 
deed, Mr. H afterwards informed me, that, had 

he previously showed the heads of his sermon to the 
riotors, and requested them when he reached such a 
point to fire, and when he reached another point to 
fire, they could not have more effectually served the 
purpose of the discourse. One gentleman who had 
previously been somewhat serious, told me that every 
shot of the cannon pierced his soul — filled him with 
indescribable horror, and by the blessing of God 
brought him to such a hatred and detestation of sin 
in himself and others, as constrained him quickly to 
fly to Christ. 

" I confess I trembled for the ark of God. After 
the sermon was concluded, I went and expostulated 



258 REVIYAL SKETCHES. 

with the ringleader, whose companion I had once 
been in wickedness, and over whom I thought I might 
have some influence. I sat near Mr. Nettleton, and 
so delighted was he with the discourse, and so accu- 
rately did he foresee the result, that whenever an 
apt allusion dropped from the lips of the speaker, he 
would turn round with a holy smile and whisper, That 
is good, that is good. Nothing could be more appro- 
priate, or more naturally rise out of the text, than 

Mr. H 's description of the miserable bondage in 

which those out of doors were serving their master. 

" This was an eventful day for Pittsfield. From 
that time Immanuel gathered his trophies from among 
great and small. They who thought to crush the 
work of God were bitterly disappointed. The fruits 
of this revival were one hundred and forty converts. 
Praise the Lord." 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 259 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE KEVIYAL EPOCH ABOUT 1800— 

CONTINUED. 

BRIEF NOTICES OF REVIVALS — 1815 to 1825. 

"In the summer of 1815, there was a great revi- 
val in the town of Salisbury, Conn. The subjects 
were of different ages, but generally youth. As the 
fruits of this revival, more than two hundred were 
admitted into the churches. 

" In the summer of 1816, the revival reached Tor- 
rington. At the communion in November, the first 
fruits were gathered into the church, and the number 
of hopeful converts was about seventy. 

" About the same time, the Holy Spirit visited the 
town of Waterbury in a signal manner, with his con- 
victing and converting influences. It embraced all 
the variety of operations, from the still small voice 
to the most powerful threatening of a broken law, 
and embraced all ages from youth to grey hairs. 
More than one hundred were the fruits of this revi- 
val. 

"In the fall of 1817, there was a revival in the 
parish of Rocky Hill, Conn., as the fruits of which, 
Dr. Chapin the pastor says eighty-four persons be- 
came members of Christ's visible church. 

" In the fall of 1818, a revival was enjoyed in the 
small society of Ashford, and eighty -two were added 
to the church. 

" In the spring of 1819, there was a happy revival 



260 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

in the town of Bolton. The convictions of the sub- 
jects of this work were deep, increased rapidly, and 
were of short continuance. Unconditional submission 
was urged as the ground of their acceptance with 
God. As soon as this was exercised, in most instan- 
ces the sinner was filled with joy, and fifty-nine were 
added to the church. 

" The same year, 1819, was a remarkable year of 
the right hand of the Most High, in the county of 
Saratoga, New York. The work commenced in the 
summer, at Saratoga springs, and about forty made a 
profession of religion, including some of the most 
prominent persons in the village. 

"About the same time, there was a remarkable 
revival in Stillwater. In February, a hundred and 
three were added to the church, and about a hundred 
more were rejoicing in hope, expecting soon to be 
received. 

" In Ballston too the work was very powerful, 
and at two communion-seasons a hundred and eigh- 
teen were added to the church, while the work was 
still increasing. 

"In the adjoining town of Milton, the work was 
overwhelming. In less than two months, more than a 
hundred and fifty were brought to rejoice in hope. In 
Amsterdam, there were about fifty hopeful conversions. 

In a letter dated Union college, April 28, 1820, 
Mr. Nettleton writes, "I have no time to relate inter- 
esting particulars. I only add, that some of the most 
stout-hearted and heaven-daring rebels have been in 
the most awful distress, and within a circle whose 
diameter is about twenty-four miles, not less than 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 261 

eight hundred souls have been hopefully born into the 
kingdom of Christ since last September. In Malta, 
there were such displays of the power of God's Spir- 
it in crushing the opposition of the natural heart, as 
are very seldom seen. The Deist and Universalist, 
the drunkard, the gambler, and the swearer, were 
alike made the subjects of this heart-breaking work. 
It was a place of great spiritual dearth, and like the 
top of Gilboa, had never been wet by rain or dew; 
but the Lord now converted that wilderness into a 
fruitful field. A church was soon organized with 
eighty-five members." 

In the same year, 1820, was a powerful revival in 
New Haven, and about three hundred were added to 
the churches. It extended to most of the neighbor- 
ing towns. Out of thirty-one congregations in the 
county of New Haven, at least twenty-five were visit- 
ed, during the winter and spring, with the special 
presence of the Lord, and it was estimated that with- 
in these limits between fifteen hundred and two thou- 
sand souls were called out of nature's darkness into 
marvellous light. 

In North Killingworth the revival was very pow- 
erful. It commenced about the last of August in a 
Bible-class, and rapidly spread over the town. The 
hopeful converts were a hundred and sixty-two, a 
hundred and seven of whom united with the church 
at the communion-season in January, and soon after 
twenty-five more. 

In 1822 and 1823 were many extensive revivals 
in the eastern part of Connecticut, of which Mr. Net- 
tleton gives the following summary view : 



262 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

"Most of these churches have in years past been 
favored with seasons more or less reviving, but never 
with such a general and powerful refreshing from the 
presence of God. The following towns have shared 
in the work. In Somers, one hundred and fifty have 
been made the subjects of divine grace. In Tolland, 
one hundred and thirty. In South Wilbraham, one 
hundred. In North Coventry, one hundred and twen- 
ty. In South Coventry, North and South Mansfield, 
about one hundred in each. In Columbia, forty. In 
Lebanon, ninety. In Goshen, thirty. In Bozrah, 
seventy. In Montville, ninety. In Chaplin, fifty. 

" The work has recently commenced, and is ad- 
vancing with power in Hampton, and within a few 
weeks fifty or more are rejoicing in hope. Also, 
within a few weeks past, the Spirit of God has de- 
scended with overwhelming power in Millington and 
Colchester. In the former place about seventy, and 
in the latter sixty are already rejoicing in hope. 
They have never witnessed the like in the power and 
extent of the work. In the above cluster of towns, 
all contiguous, more than thirteen hundred souls have 
hopefully received a saving change since the work 
began. Of these, more than eight hundred have al- 
ready made a profession of religion. In Chatham also 
the work is interesting, and about seventy are rejoic- 
ing in hope. The Lord has done great things for 
Zion, whereof we are glad : and let all her friends 
humbly rejoice, and bow, and give thanks, and exalt 
his name together.' 7 

The above items from memoranda in the life of 
Dr. Nettleton, whose labors were extended to other 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 263 

parts of the northern states, and for three successive 
winters, 1827-1829, to Virginia, are scarcely a tithe 
of the places where revivals spread, and where the 
Spirit wrought mightily in the conversion of sinners. 
Hundreds and thousands of churches, connected with 
the various evangelical denominations in all parts of 
the country, were visited and blessed by the gracious 
outpourings of the Spirit, notices of which constantly 
appeared in the weekly and other periodicals for a 
score of years, but which the design and limits of this 
work do not require or permit me to notice more in 
detail. 

In Central and Western New York, the revival 
was very extensive and powerful. In Troy, Utica, 
Auburn, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and many other 
places, the revivals between 1820 and 1825 surpassed 
all that had been seen before. They were noticed in 
the religious newspapers of the day, and through 
some other channels of religious intelligence, but I 
have not been able to find narratives of them in more 
permanent forms. 

SOME THINGS TO BE REGRETTED. 

But glorious as these revivals were, I believe 
that in the retrospect nearly all the ministers who 
were then on the stage can recollect some things to 
be regretted, which were at length in some places 
introduced, as there were in the " great awakening " 
of the last century, and which, considering the imper- 
fection of the best of men, are liable more or less to 
mar every great revival. I cannot do less than glance 
at them in these brief historical sketches. 



264 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

None but the decided enemies of vital religion 
could then say, or can now say, that those mistakes 
were so many and so wide spread anywhere as to 
destroy the good there was in them in that remarka- 
ble day ; though there were some things to be guarded 
against and avoided, which in a greater or less de- 
gree interrupted the good work, and gave some occa- 
sion to such as sought occasion to oppose it. It could 
not be denied that in several places the pressure was 
for a time so high, under certain revival measures, as 
to disturb the calm and regular action of men's minds. 
Outbreaks of nervous excitement were so far from 
being checked, that they were rather encouraged in 
the prayer-meetings, if not in the more public assem- 
blies. 

It having been found that four-days' meetings 
were remarkably blessed, they were in many cases 
multiplied and repeated till they were fairly worn 
out. It came to be thought, in some churches, that 
when religion was at a low ebb, they had only to 
arrange for a protracted meeting, and were almost 
sure of a revival. Accordingly when four days did 
not do it, the meetings were continued indefinitely — 
six, ten, fifteen, twenty, and in some cases much 
longer — till all who attended them were exhausted 
in body and mind ; and whatever forced excitement 
was at last produced, was unavoidably followed by 
a speedy reaction, which left the church and congre- 
gation in a far less impressible state than the meet- 
ing found them. I presume that few if any of those 
churches would now repeat the experiment of very 
long protracted meetings. In consequence of such 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 265 

failures as were witnessed, unreasonable prejudices 
have ever since existed in some quarters against all 
such meetings. 

The great demand for preaching in western re- 
vivals, brought out a number of zealous young men 
with but little experience, who felt it their duty to 
enter into the work, and help the pastors wherever 
their services were desired. They soon took the 
name of Evangelists, or Revivalists as they were more 
commonly called. Some of them, in process of time, 
became zealous overmuch. They introduced meas- 
ures which many pastors of riper judgment and more 
experience in revivals could not approve. And as 
their zeal increased, they wanted to go to places 
where they were not sent for. Nor would they be 
hindered for want of regular invitations. Influential 
members of the churches who sympathized with them 
were approached, and enlisted to overrule the judg- 
ment of their ministers, and wring from them a reluc- 
tant consent. If the ministers would not yield, they 
must be broken down, as the phrase was. This was 
often attempted, and sometimes succeeded. Nor would 
the Evangelist long consent to labor under the advice 
and direction of the pastor. He must give up the 
reins, and stand aside and look on, or take a subordi- 
nate part in the revival. The consequence was, that 
divisions were created in the churches, part holding 
with the pastors and part with the Evangelists ; and 
though scores of converts might be announced, some 
churches were actually weakened, and to such a de- 
gree that if not quite broken up, in what has since 
been called the 'burnt district/ they have scarcely 

Rev. Sketches 1 2 



266 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

recovered to this day. Not only were good ministers 
driven from their congregations in this manner, but 
such prejudices against revivals were created by 
these extreme measures, that it has taken a whole 
generation to remove them. 

Some of these Revivalists found their way into 
the border congregations of New England. And 
though they did not find so free an entrance as they 
desired, they visited and labored in towns enough to 
test their extreme measures by the fruits ; and while 
in looking back we do not feel warranted to say they 
did no good, it is certain they caused many unhappy 
divisions, and that their success was nothing like 
what they proclaimed upon the housetops. Places 
might be named where they counted scores if not 
hundreds of converts, but few of whom could be 
found, ten years after, to have joined and adorned the 
Christian profession in any of the churches. One 
great object was to gather in the converts as soon 
as possible, and the consequence was, that not a 
few petitions were erelong presented for dismissions 
back again to the world, by persons thus hastily ad- 
mitted. They said, We thought we were converted 
when we joined, but are now convinced it was mere 
animal excitement: we have no more religion than 
we had before, and have no right to be counted as 
Christians, and come to the Lord's table. 

This is not the place to decide what ought to be 
done in such cases. But it is obvious, upon a mo- 
ment's reflection, that they must be extremely embar- 
rassing. Nor is it uncharitable to express the fear, 
that many who are thus hurried in, and who do not 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 261 

ask to be released, have the form of godliness without 
the power, and by remaining weaken the churches 
instead of strengthening them. These were serious 
drawbacks upon the revivals of the period now under 
review. In some cases they put a stop to them. 
Nevertheless, as I have already said, they were un- 
questionably glorious years of the right hand of the 
Most High. 

REVIVALS IN COLLEGES AND SEMINARIES. 

It is ground of devout thanksgiving to God, that 
within the last fifty years our colleges have been much 
oftener visited by the special outpourings of the Spir- 
it, than during any former period; and that a very 
large proportion of the most able and successful min- 
isters and missionaries have been converted and nur- 
tured in these institutions. In Yale, I believe there 
have been ten revivals at least. In Williams and 
Amherst there have been nearly as many, and others 
have shared richly in these blessings. From what 
sources could faithful ministers have been obtained, 
if these institutions had not been thus visited ? 

Nor must we forget to magnify the grace of God 
in the effusions of his Spirit upon our academies, high- 
schools, and other kindred educational seminaries, 
both male and female. It would be safe to say, that 
within the last forty years, there have been hundreds 
of revivals in these nurseries of the churches and of 
the state, the like of which have never before been 
enjoyed in this or any other age or country. 

In many of the Female seminaries especially, they 
have been remarkable, frequent, and powerful ; upon 



268 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

some of the largest of them, the Spirit has been pour- 
ed out almost every year. Among these the Mount 
Holyoke seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts, 
was so highly favored under the instruction and relig- 
ious training of that remarkable woman Mart Lyon, 
its founder, and her associates, that I cannot refrain 
from copying the following letter of one of the teach- 
ers, Miss Whitman, written by request to President 
Hitchcock in 1846, which I find in the new edition of 
Miss Lyon's life. 

" The school has been in operation nine years, and 
each year since its commencement there has been 
decided religious interest, unless we except the first 
and the eighth, several times amounting to a deep 
and extensive work of grace. Among the pupils of 
the first year, there were but ten or twelve who were 
not hopefully pious ; and although there was a gen- 
eral consistency of character and deportment, and 
great zeal in building up the new institution, there 
was no marked religious interest. 

"The second year, the number regarding them- 
selves as unconverted was about thirty. During that 
year, God manifested his acceptance of the consecrat- 
ed institution, not by a visible cloud, but by a bap- 
tism of the Holy Ghost. The work was very rapid, 
and advanced with great power. It occurred in con- 
nection with the fast for literary institutions. The 
whole school bowed beneath its influence. The breath- 
ings of the Spirit were felt in every heart. The 
lukewarm professor and the openly irreligious alike 
trembled for their personal safety. The light foot- 
step, the hushed voice, and the solemn countenance 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 269 

indicated the thoughts of all hearts. Many a slum- 
bering professor awoke to newness of life. During 
the three days succeeding the last Thursday of Feb- 
ruary, which had been sacredly observed by the teach- 
ers and scholars as a season of fasting and prayer, 
about one-half of the impenitent indulged the hope of 
having passed from death unto life. 

" Saturday of the same week was a day of recrea- 
tion. In the afternoon, nearly the whole school with 
one accord came together, filling to its utmost capac- 
ity the reading-room, where the meeting was held. 
After continuous prayer for an hour, the meeting was 
appropriately closed by one of the teachers. No one 
rose to leave the room. The feeling pervaded the 
circle that prayer must be continued until every soul 
was converted. Another prayer was then offered, 
after which the same teacher proposed that they 
should all retire to their rooms for half an hour, and 
then those who desired, should meet again in the 
same place. At the end of the half hour the burden- 
ed souls came together to plead once more for their 
companions who were still out of Christ. But one, 
that year, remained destitute of the Christian hope. 
Many were the prayers offered for that halting one, 
and in after-years it was found that praying breath 
had not been spent in vain. She has since died in a 
peaceful hope of divine acceptance, referring its ori- 
gin to that second year of the Holyoke seminary. 

"Thus did this young seminary receive its bap- 
tism of the Spirit. Thus did God condescend to man- 
ifest his acceptance of the offering. Thus did he 
receive as his own the seminary which had been pri- 



270 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

vately and publicly consecrated to him by the donors, 
the trustees, and most of all by her who, standing at 
its head, was often heard earnestly pleading, that not 
one of all who should enjoy its privileges down to the 
dawn of the millennial day, should fail of eternal life. 
"This revival gave the school that religious char- 
acter which its founders desired. Its effects were 
felt for several successive years, but especially in the 
next, which was the third in the history of the semi- 
nary. That year, all indulged the Christian hope. The 
work was gradual, and there was a continued inter- 
est from the first week of the school till the close of 
the year. The presence of the Spirit was manifested 
from the first, by attention to instruction, the tearful 
eye, and exhibition of tenderness of feeling whenever 
the subject of personal religion was introduced. The 
number of cases of hopeful conversion this year was 
nearly the same as the preceding, or about thirty. 
The fourth year, the religious interest still contin- 
ued, somewhat diminished in its power, yet manifest 
through the year. Christians were not so generally 
and deeply affected as at some former times, yet there 
was an interesting growth and maturing of Christian 
character ; six or eight only remained at the close of 
the year without hope. The fifth year, our building 
was enlarged, and our numbers greatly increased. 
There were in many cases a decided and interesting 
development and settling of religious principle, and 
also several cases of hopeful conversion of an unusu- 
ally marked character. The number expressing hope 
was perhaps about seventeen, being nearly half who 
entered without hope. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 2U 

"The following year, the sixth, was one rich in 
blessing. A more careful division of responsibility 
and labor among the teachers was made, and from 
the commencement of the year, there was an increas- 
ed personal effort in relation to every member of the 
family. God crowned these efforts with abundant 
success. From the first there was an attentive listen- 
ing to instruction, and truth seemed to be taking a 
deep hold of the understanding and conscience. But 
it was not till March, that the Spirit of the Lord 
came upon us with great power, and at once a large 
number stood up on the Lord's side, having received 
the breath of life. The work was sudden, rapid, and 
powerful. We could only stand still and see the 
salvation of God. Some cases of conversion were of 
a very marked character, and of great interest. Of 
the sixty-six who entered the school without hope, 
only six remained destitute of it. The missionary 
interest this year received a new impulse by the de- 
parture of Miss Fisk, one of our teachers, on a foreign 
mission, and there was an increase in the missionary 
contributions. During the seventh year, there were 
about thirty cases of hopeful conversion. In our last 
term, there were about twenty, and a number have 
occurred the present term." 

During the twelve years which have since trans- 
pired, that consecrated school of some three hundred 
pupils has been almost equally blessed by annual 
revivals. The spirit of the founder has rested on her 
successors whom she trained up for the service. 



272 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

REVIVALS ON MISSIONARY GROUND. 

While God was pouring out his Spirit so copiously 
upon the church in this country, as we have seen, 
he was strengthening the hands and encouraging the 
hearts of her missionaries in foreign lands, by pre- 
cious refreshings from the same inexhaustible foun- 
tain. 

To begin with the Sandwich islands. When the 
first missionaries of the American Board landed there, 
in 1820, they found the natives sunk in the most de- 
plorable ignorance and barbarism. A more hopeless 
missionary field could scarcely be found in the whole 
heathen world; but G-od had gone before them, and 
moved those wretched islanders to cast away their 
idols, they knew not why, as the first step towards 
receiving the gospel. Much earlier than the strong- 
est faith had dared to anticipate, God poured out his 
Spirit in a most wonderful manner. The missionaries 
stood still in amazement, as they witnessed the power 
and progress of the work. They had seen great 
revivals in their own country, but they "never saw 
it on this fashion." Almost the whole population was 
simultaneously moved by an invisible mighty impulse, 
which they could not withstand. Such a revival, it 
is believed, had not been witnessed for seventeen hun- 
dred years. " So mightily grew the word of God and 
prevailed." I have no room for statistics, if I had 
them all before me. They will be found in the re- 
ports and correspondence of the missionaries with the 
American Board at that period. Suffice it to say, 
that the converts were numbered by thousands, so 
that within a very few years a larger proportion of 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 273 

the natives, hopefully born again, were received into 
the churches, than could be numbered in any Chris- 
tian land. The church in Hilo was for a great many 
years, and is now the largest evangelical church in the 
world. Several powerful revivals have been enjoyed 
in those islands since the first and the greatest. Christ 
has taken possession of them as a part of his inherit- 
ance ; and how any, who claim to be Christians even 
in the most " liberal " sense, can with this history be- 
fore them doubt that he is able to subdue all things 
to himself, surpasses my comprehension. 

From the Sandwich islands let us pass over the 
great seas to Burmah, where the sainted Judson en- 
dured all the lingering sufferings of martyrdom, up 
to the very point of the spear, from which he was 
scarcely saved by the almost superhuman efforts of 
his heroic wife. Next to that at the islands, the mis- 
sion among the Karens, under the Baptist Foreign 
Board, has, I believe, been the most prosperous of any 
in modern times. I do not pretend to give dates in 
these sketches, nor the number of converts from hea- 
thenism at any of the stations. It is unnecessary to my 
purpose, which is to show that G-od has been, and is 
carrying on his work of saving sinners chiefly by 
revivals where missions are planted on pagan ground, 
as we have seen he does in Christian lands. Suffice 
it to say, that there have been several marked revi- 
vals among the Karens — perhaps it would come nearer 
the actual state of things to say there has for several 
years been a connected series of them there — in which 
thousands have been brought out of darkness into 

God's marvellous light. " Two thousand and thirty- 
12* 



274 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

nine," say the Missionary Union, " were brought into 
connection with the Aracan churches by baptism, in 
1844. The average annual accessions in the last five 
years exceed fourteen hundred. The number bap- 
tized from the beginning, is sixteen thousand. The 
number of hopeful converts through the preaching of 
the cross of Christ by missionaries and native preach- 
ers of this Board, is more than twenty thousand." 
This I copy from the Retrospect of 1851, and large 
additions have since been made to the churches. 
What hath God wrought in pagan Burmah ! 

Although no such very extraordinary success has 
been reported from other Protestant missions, there 
has been enough to show that " God is not slack 
concerning his promise." There have been repeated 
revivals in the missionary schools at Ceylon and 
other parts of India, of the same type as in our schools 
and academies at home. Also in the schools of our 
missionaries among the Nestorians. There are revi- 
vals still in progress, of greater or less extent and 
power, as there have been for some time past under 
the labors of the American missionaries among the 
Armenians of Asia Minor. So also among the Zulus 
in South Africa, as there had been long ago among 
the Hottentots. In Western Africa too, the Meth- 
odist, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, . and Congre- 
gational missionaries have been cheered by special 
refreshings poured upon their respective fields of 
labor, from the river of God which is full of water. 
So it has been with the Choctaws, Cherokees, and 
other pagan tribes of our North American Indians. 
Wherever they have been christianized, and churches 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 215 

established among them, it has been by the mighty 
power of God's Spirit in revivals. I cannot call to 
mind an exception. So it was in the days of " the 
apostle to the Indians " John Eliot, the Mayhews, 
and other first missionaries to the tribes on Martha's 
Vineyard and the New England shore. The Holy 
Spirit was poured out, churches were established, and 
there were at one time fifteen or twenty congrega- 
tions of praying Indians, as the natives were then 
called, who renounced heathenism and attended pub- 
lic worship. 

In like manner, about the middle of the last cen- 
tury there were revivals under the labors of that 
devoted missionary David Brainerd, whose name will 
be had in everlasting remembrance for his labors 
among the Indians, in the depths of their forests and 
their barbarism at Crossweeksung and the forks of 
the Delaware. 

I might add others to this list of examples on 
heathen ground, but I have named more than enough 
to show that the divine economy for spreading the 
gospel in heathen lands has been by revivals. I noth- 
ing doubt that if they could all be chronicled in their 
full extent since the world began, they would fill 
some of the longest and brightest chapters in the 
History of Redemption, down to the present hour. 

THE REVIVAL OF 1858. 

To return again to our own land. I have brought 
these sketches down to about 1845, when there were 
but few powerful revivals, and for some years these 
sacred visits seemed to be becoming less and less fre- 



276 KEYIVAL SKETCHES. 

quent. Many churches here and there were refresh- 
ed, and many souls brought in; but to an alarming 
extent the young were growing up without hope and 
without God in the world. There was increasing 
coldness and worldly conformity in the churches. 
From some of the watch-towers of Zion the alarm 
indeed was sounded. There was weeping in secret 
places over the general decline, and many prayers 
were offered for the return of the Spirit. But to the 
question, "Watchman, what of the night?" there was 
no cheering answer. It was very dark, and seemed 
to be growing darker. As in the days of the prophet 
Israel was mad upon her idols, so we had our idols 
of gold and silver. A money mania pervaded not 
only all our commercial cities, but the whole country 
more or less, involving all classes. The old paths to 
competence by the moderate gains of industry and 
frugality were being more and more forsaken, as no 
longer suited to this progressive age. Speculation 
in stocks, in city and village lots, in wild lands, in 
paper villages and flourishing marts of business, and 
in every thing that promised sudden and extravagant 
gains, had reached the crisis of fever-heat, and filled 
the dreams of thousands upon thousands with un- 
counted treasures, with fairy mansions, and all the 
delights of " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, 
and the pride of life.' 7 Would that it had been but 
an Arabian night dream, instead of the actual every 
day state of the scrambling multitudes. 

And then such a highly inflated and insane grasp- 
ing for riches could not fail of creating temptations, 
to an alarming extent too strong to be resisted, in the 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 217 

large business transactions of the country. Hence 
those enormous frauds which have made the ears of 
the nation tingle, and by which multitudes of widows 
and orphans have been swindled out of the small 
hard-earned investments, on which they depended for 
their daily bread. It was painfully manifest that 
without some check to this all-absorbing worldliness, 
there was no reasonable prospect of such a return of 
the years of the right hand of the Most High as we 
had once enjoyed, under the opening heavens pouring 
down the Holy Spirit and reviving his work. The 
church was fast falling into the current which swept 
madly on, and threatened, if possible, to swallow up 
the very elect. To change the figure, we were de- 
scending an inclined plane with all the steam on, and 
no brakes to check the engine and save the train 
from being dashed to pieces. 

Just then, in the summer of 1857, God interposed 
in a way which but few if any would have chosen or 
thought of. When men were saying, " Soul, thou hast 
much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, 
eat, drink, and be merry f when they were building 
their castles in the air, not easy to be numbered ; when 
the common talk on change was of hundreds of thou- 
sands and millions; when, in short, all were saying, 
" To-morrow shall be as this day, and more abundant," 
then suddenly came the crash, as if thunders from a 
clear sky had simultaneously broken over the whole 
land. Like a yawning earthquake, it shook down 
the palaces of the rich, no less than the humble dwell- 
ings of the poor, and swallowed up their substance. 
Men went to bed dreaming all night of their vast 



278 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

hoarded treasures, and woke up in the morning hope- 
less bankrupts. 

Happily these overwhelming losses brought many 
prosperous business men to a stand, who had given 
themselves no time to think about laying up treas- 
ures in heaven; and under the wise and merciful 
orderings of Providence, this prepared the way for 
a new revival epoch, differing in its commencement 
and some of its aspects from any that had preced- 
ed it. 

It is quite too early to speak with confidence of 
the extent and fruits of this most remarkable revival. 
Its rise and progress have been so fully registered in 
the religious and secular journals of the day, that 
repetitions are not called for, if we had room for 
them. But as I have sketched the leading character- 
istics of former revivals which have come under re- 
view, it is in place to inquire in what respects, if 
any, this work differs from them. That there are 
some striking differences must be patent to all who 
are conversant with this branch of the history of Re- 
demption. 

1. In its commencement. How and where did it 
begin ? The kingdom of God came not with obser- 
vation. Such a visit at such a time was not looked 
for. On the contrary, many feared that the financial 
disasters of the country had so absorbed the minds 
of the whole people both in and out of the churches, 
as to leave no room for the concerns of the soul. But 
it would seem that the mighty crash was just what 
was wanted in the great marts of business and specu- 
lation, to startle men from their golden dreams, and 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 279 

lead tliem to seek for durable riches and righteousness. 
The horseleech epidemic had spread so wide, and 
reached such a crisis, that no ordinary means could 
arrest it. There is no reason to believe, I think, 
that this revival would have commenced as it did, 
and spread as it has, if the spell which held men in 
its embrace had not been broken by some sudden and 
violent convulsion. It came : and the rushing throngs 
of fortune-seekers stood still in amazement. Wall- 
street was shattered and tottering from one end to 
the other. Every shock threatened wider ruin, and 
where could the merchant princes and bankers find a 
place of refuge ? Their millions were gone or going, 
and they had laid up no better portion. A thicken- 
ing gloom hung over all the cities, and spread over 
all the country. While the earth reeled, the heavens 
were shut up. 

It was just then that God put it into the heart of 
a humble individual to propose a daily prayer-meet- 
ing in the lower part of the city of New York, at 
such a time as would best suit the convenience of 
business men. At first but few attended, in a little 
room on the third floor of the consistory of the Re- 
formed Dutch church in Fulton-street. But "behold 
how great a matter a little fire kindleth f soon, to 
the astonishment of everybody, thronging multitudes 
filled all the three rooms of that building to their 
utmost capacity. ' It was a vast daily prayer-meeting 
of an hour at twelve o'clock, attended by those of all 
classes and conditions, and included great numbers 
of business men who had never been seen in a prayer- 
meeting before. It was the Lord's doing, and mar- 



280 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

vellous in all eyes. Nor could it long be confined 
within such narrow limits. 

The fire from heaven that kindled the flame there, 
spread rapidly in all directions. The call to prayer 
became louder throughout the city than it ever was 
before. It daily filled some of the largest churches ; 
it gathered thousands into one of the vast theatres ; 
it reached the free academy; the fire and the police 
departments opened their doors for daily prayer. 
Rooms were opened by merchants in their stores, in 
which their clerks met for prayer, and the waiters in 
one of the large hotels had their daily prayer-meet- 
ing. Even Jews participated in the great revival 
movement, and attended the meetings in various parts 
of the city. Such in brief was the commencement of 
this marvellous work of the Spirit. The oldest Chris- 
tians stood still and exclaimed, "We never saw it on 
this fashion;" and may I not ask, who ever did? Of 
such a simultaneous movement we have no recorded 
example. 

2. They were union prayer-meetings, attended by 
all who chose, without respect to denominational dif- 
ferences. This was a new feature in the revival. 
The middle walls of partition had never before been 
so thoroughly broken down. Evangelical Christians 
of every name found they could come together and 
pray for the outpouring of the Spirit without any 
sacrifice of church order, and were astonished that 
they had not sooner found out "how good, and how 
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity " 
at the throne of grace. Oh, how it liberalized the sec- 
tarian spirit ; how it enlarged the heart ; how it tended 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 281 

to unite the whole household of faith in one common 
brotherhood. Let it be our united prayer that Satan 
may never more get an advantage of us, by rebuild- 
ing the walls which have so long kept us apart to 
our mutual discredit and loss. Have we not all one 
Lord, one faith, one God and Father, who is above 
all, through all, and in us all? and shall we ever 
hesitate to unite in praying for the descent of the 
Holy Spirit, whenever and wherever we can enjoy 
the privilege ? 

3. Another remarkable feature in this revival, is 
the rapidity with which the spirit of united prayer 
spread from city to city, and from state to state, 
gathering the vast multitudes who in a few weeks 
were everywhere seen crowding the meetings, giving 
unmistakable evidence that God was in the midst of 
them. His presence and power were manifest as 
never before, in making New York, Philadelphia, 
Cincinnati, and almost all our large cities centres of 
this great movement, radiating the spiritual light and 
warmth which they were the first to enjoy, upon all 
the regions round about. Thus the united prayer- 
meetings and the revivals spread with wonderful ra- 
pidity to hundreds of places, from the centre to the 
circumference. It has been variously estimated that 
there were within one year, between three and five 
hundred thousand converts. 

4. The earth came in and helped the woman as never 
before, since she fled from the great red dragon into 
the wilderness. Thirty years ago, it was difficult to 
get even a short paragraph of religious intelligence 
into a secular city paper. Such a thing as a notice 



REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

of a revival, we may almost say, was never heard of 
through, such a channel. The best that could be 
done was chiefly accomplished with singular tact and 
per sever ence by a minister, well and widely known at 
that time, as bent on doing good in every possible 
way.* At first it was a volunteer and gratuitous 
service, collecting and writing out short articles, 
handing them to the editors, and getting them insert- 
ed more as special favors to the man, than to their 
readers and patrons. Finding how much good he 
was doing in this way, a number of religious men 
contributed moderate sums to sustain him ; and this 
was all that could be done to reach the masses of 
newspaper readers. I believe I might say it took a 
whole year to get the amount of two columns into 
any secular city paper, when revivals in almost every 
part of the country were going on with mighty power. 
But how astonishing the change! Scarcely had 
the union prayer-meetings been set up in New York, 
Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities, when the same 
papers, of their own accord, devoted whole closely 
crowded columns, weekly and daily, to this new relig- 
ious phenomenon ; vying with each other who should 
most minutely chronicle the progress of these meet- 
ings, and spread the news widest. In fact, for some 
time they took the lead of the religious papers in this 
department of general intelligence. The change was 
so sudden and so surprising, that we could hardly 
believe our own eyes in reading the dailies. This 
was a great advance upon what had ever before been 
witnessed. 

* The late Rev. Austin Dickinson. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 283 

5. I believe there have been more public prayers 
offered up by request for individuals, and more re- 
markable answers, than in any former revival. This 
is a step in advance, and a great encouragement for 
the future. 

At the same time I cannot help thinking that proc- 
lamations of sudden and surprising conversions have 
been too many, and too confident in some of the great 
daily prayer-meetings. Some of the individuals who 
are spoken of without qualification as brands from 
the burning, will not hold out. It cannot be known 
at the time who they are, but some will fall away 
and bring distrust upon the conversion of others, and 
upon the genuineness of the great work. Indeed, if 
I have read the reports right, there is a much greater 
degree of confidence expressed, as soon as awakened 
sinners get a hope, that they are truly converted, than 
there was in the earlier revivals of this century. 

The fathers used to speak and write with caution. 
They did not say without qualification, "We have 
twenty, fifty, or a hundred converts f but that " so 
many have obtained a hope ; that most of them have 
been received into the church, and that so far they 
appear well." They thought this the safest way. 
They were accustomed to say, after the example of 
Peter in his recommendation of Sylvanus, "a faithful 
brother, as I suppose." And I confess that if the sup- 
pose were retained in a great many cases where it is 
left out, and if there were not so many hasty admis- 
sions, I think the revivals would bring in a larger 
number of true converts, and with them more strength 
to the churches. Still, the work is glorious, and has 



284 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

brought a rich revenue of praise to the Redeemer. 
Perhaps the number of the truly regenerated has been 
larger in the last, than in any former year. That 
the work may continue and spread, and bring still 
greater numbers to the cross, will be the devout peti- 
tion of all who love the cause, to God with whom is 
the residue of the Spirit. 

And just here let me say, there are some dangers 
to be guarded against, growing out of the very re- 
markable rise and progress of this general revival. 
As it began outside of the church, as it were; as 
there had not been seasons of special prayer for the 
outpouring of the Spirit j as no such mighty works 
as he has wrought were expected by anybody ; as 
few ministers took an active part at first, and the 
great union prayer-meetings have been chiefly con- 
ducted by laymen, there is danger that the churches 
will hope for future revivals without much prayer ; 
that they will rely too much upon the prayer offered 
up for them at the union meetings ; and that they 
will think too lightly of ministers and their preach- 
ing, and thus displease the great Head of the church 
who has appointed " the ministry of reconciliation," 
without whose labors his cause has never been ad- 
vanced. However a revival may commence, and 
seem to prosper for a time, it needs the guidance and 
teachings of a pious and faithful pastor to guard 
against irregularities ; to go before the flock and lead 
them safely to the fold of the good Shepherd. 

Every revival makes a great deal of work for the 
minister. This is especially the case when, as in this 
revival, many are suddenly arrested and hopefully 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 285 

converted, who before had never given serious atten- 
tion to the subject of religion ; and of course, have 
yet to receive all needful instruction with regard to 
its nature and evidences. The time allowed in these 
daily prayer-meetings leaves little room for instruc- 
tion into the things of the kingdom ; and as many of 
the converts are attached to no Christian denomina- 
tion, they are to be looked up and taught and encour- 
aged, and led along in the way where, till now, they 
have been almost as much strangers as if they had 
been born in a heathen land. 

I have said it is yet too early to speak with con- 
fidence of the fruits of this revival. We cannot yet 
compare it with former spiritual harvests. We hope 
it will continue a great while. But it is easy to see 
that our hopes may be disappointed. The great ad- 
versary is no indifferent spectator. It is certain he 
will in some way get the advantage of us, and stop it 
if he can. There was never greater need of watch- 
ing and praying against his devices. If he can break 
up the union prayer-meetings, or cause them to be 
indiscreetly conducted ; if he can induce the churches 
of our several denominations to depend more upon 
the prayers offered up in these meetings, than upon 
the ministry of the word and other divinely appointed 
means ; if he can any way " sow discord among breth- 
ren," and lead them to scramble for the sheaves in 
the harvest, he will certainly do it. If he can induce 
those who are now so happily united to separate, say- 
ing, "I am of Paul, and I of Apollos." so as to 
leave as few as possible for " Christ," he will avail 
himself of the advantage to the utmost ; or if he can 



286 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

induce the awakened to substitute dreams and visions 
and other fanatical delusions for true conviction and 
conversion, he will make the most of it to corrupt 
and put an end to the good work. Our only protec- 
tion is in the guardianship of Him who is infinitely 
powerful to protect his church, and for his protection 
let us now and ever devoutly pray. 

ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 

In dwelling so fully on the glorious work of God 
in our own land, in the revival epoch which began 
with the going out of the last and the coming in of 
the present century, God forbid that I should over- 
look or undervalue the simultaneous work He so won- 
derfully wrought in the mother country. The terror 
justly awakened by the rapid spread of French infidel- 
ity not only across the channel, but across the Atlan- 
tic, stealthily entering the minds of millions, and sap- 
ping the very foundations of piety and hope in God, 
was felt as deeply by Hannah More, and Bishop Por- 
teus, and John Newton, and Dr. Bogue, and George 
Burder, and Andrew Fuller, and Rowland Hill, and 
others of kindred spirit, as by any in our land. To 
roll back this flood, Hannah More for years devoted 
her gifted pen in issuing millions of her cheap Reposi- 
tory Tracts, so fascinating that they could not but be 
read, and yet effectually tearing off the mask by 
which infidelity presented herself as an angel of 
light. This led directly to the formation of those 
noble parent institutions in London, the Religious 
Tract Society, and through that, the British and For- 
eign Bible Society. The organization and efficiency 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 28T 

of these institutions, of the Baptist Foreign Missionary 
Society, the London Missionary Society, the Church 
Missionary Society, and the kindred evangelical move- 
ments in the mother country for spreading the gospel, 
which have been so successfully imitated and cooper- 
ated with on this side of the waters — all are fruits of 
this blessed work of the Spirit graciously poured out 
about 1792, in a period of darkness when the hearts 
of Christians were failing them for fear ; and through 
the same hallowed influence, their efficient labors have 
been continued and blessed till the present hour. 

And not only did these servants of God devise 
and carry into effect these great evangelizing organi- 
zations, but many of them labored personally in the 
spirit and power of Whitefield and the Wesleys, full 
of faith and of the Holy Ghost, to preach the gospel 
to perishing thousands in the moral wastes around 
them, under whose labors precious harvests of souls 
were gathered. 

Among the foremost of these were those two re- 
markable men, the brothers Robert and James Alex- 
ander Haldane of Scotland, who will be had in ever- 
lasting remembrance for their burning zeal and untir- 
ing labors in the service of Christ, and for the cheer- 
fulness with which they consecrated their wealth and 
talents to Christ in building churches — tabernacles 
they were called — for the poor, and providing in 
every practicable way for their religious instruction. 

As an example of it, Robert sold his princely estate 
for seventy thousand guineas, and bought into the funds 
for the purpose of being ready to appropriate his 
money for promoting the interests of religion. Out 



288 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

of the income of six thousand pounds a year, he limit- 
ed his family to five hundred pounds — two thousand 
dollars for himself, and twenty-eight thousand annually 
for Christ and the church. He aided no less than 
three hundred young men in preparation for the min- 
istry, and in his own personal visits to Geneva was 
blessed in giving an evangelical character to the theo- 
logical seminary now under the care of Dr. Merle 
D'Aubigne' and men of kindred spirit. The memoir 
of those noble Christian brothers, an edition of which 
the American Tract Society have just issued, is a re- 
ligious biography of great interest, showing how emi- 
nently God blessed their preaching and other labors 
by the outpouring of his Spirit. I might enrich these 
revival sketches with more copious extracts, but only 
select a few striking passages. 

"In May, 1801, James Haldane proceeded on a 
preaching tour in the south of Scotland, and for four 
months preached every Lord's day to large congre- 
gations in the open air, and under a tent, and every 
day in the neighboring towns and villages. Of the 
good effects of these labors there was abundant evi- 
dence. Nor did he, in 1802, seek repose, but again 
went forth burning with zeal for Christ. Many in- 
teresting circumstances were connected with his 
labors in Buxton, Macclesfield, Matlock, and other 
places, where he proclaimed the message of salvation 
in the towns, villages, hamlets, and green hill-sides 
of Derbyshire and Stratfordshire. Everywhere his 
preaching was acceptable, and often was it seen that 
the word was with power. A few years before this 
period, Messrs. Simeon and Haldane had visited Mou- 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 289 

lin, and as the result of their labors the conversion 
of eighty persons was reported ; in the neighborhood 
of Dunkeld a minister reported one hundred and forty- 
Jive persons whom he had ascertained to be the fruits 
of these itinerating labors, and in Aberfeldie fifty- 
seven attributed their conversion under God to the 
labors of Robert Haldane's missionaries. 

" But the most remarkable revival of religion of 
this period occurred at Breadalbane, by means of a 
Mr. Farquharson, a catechist of lowly origin, who 
had been recommended to Robert Haldane's class 
of students for the ministry, on account of his earnest 
piety and zeal. So great was the opposition to this 
devoted catechist when he entered upon his labors, 
that in a circle of thirty-two miles round Lochsay, 
there were only three families who would receive 
him, and every public-house was shut against him. 
In spite of opposition and neglect, he went during 
the whole winter from village to village, reading the 
Bible and speaking the words of salvation to all who 
would listen to him. In the early part of 1802, so 
extraordinary a revival had been gradually brought 
about, that one hundred persons previously ignorant of 
the gospel, seemed to be converted. 

" The accounts of success in Caithness were even 
more delightful. While the missionaries were send- 
ing home the intelligence from Breadalbane and else- 
where, Mr. Cleghorn, the excellent pastor of Wick, 
wrote of one hundred and twenty as giving evidence 
of the power of truth ; and adds, that at Thurso the 
gospel had been at least equally successful. 

"In the spring of 1805, James Haldane, accompa- 

Rev. Sketches 13 



290 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

nied by Mr. Campbell, made a tour by way of Perth 
and Dunkeld into Breadalbane, and the people came 
to hear the gospel by thousands. Mr. Peter Grant, 
a pious preacher, says, ' The novelty of a field preach- 
er, especially a gentleman, attracted great multitudes. 
In a short time the whole country was in a stir, and 
many said that we were all in a lost condition ; 
others endeavored by argument and ridicule to ban- 
ish their fears, but the gospel kindled a flame at that 
time, which I hope is not yet extinguished.' 

" In reference to the work which had been per- 
formed, the late Dr. Russel has left this testimony : 
' By means of the movement which took place at that 
period, there was awakened a spirit of greater relig- 
ious zeal in various religious bodies ; a more pointed 
manner of preaching was adopted by many. There 
came to be more discrimination of character. The 
empty flourish of the instrument gave place to the 
well-defined tones and melodies which awaken all 
the sympathies of the soul. The unfettered freeness 
of the gospel was more fully proclaimed, while its 
practical influence was more distinctly unfolded. In 
the course of time there appeared an increasing num- 
ber of evangelical ministers in the Establishment, and 
a beneficial influence was found to operate upon other 
denominations.' " 

The foregoing is a mere glance, chiefly at the la- 
bors and success of James Haldane in the earlier part 
of his long ministry. He lived to see his fiftieth an- 
niversary, and died not long after, in 1851. He was 
for half a century a revival preacher in the best 
sense of the term, and almost wherever he went his 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 291 

labors were richly blessed. He counted it his great- 
est privilege to spend and be spent in the service, 
and witnessed many scenes of awakening which we 
should call, and which truly were, genuine revivals. 

Thus all along from 1800 down to the middle 
of the century, was God here and there reviving his 
work in Scotland, and England also, under the labors 
of the Haldanes and other zealous evangelical preach- 
ers; and the signs of the times, I think, now give 
promise of approaching rich and glorious spiritual 
harvests in those lands. 

GENERAL SUMMARY REVIEW. 

Here, lifting up our hearts in devout thanksgiv- 
ing to God, let us pause and review the ground which 
we have gone over. We have seen that seasons of 
special religious awakening and reformation, bearing 
all the essential features of genuine modern revivals, 
date as far back as the time of Joshua. We have 
seen that when that generation had passed off from 
the stage, after ages of national degeneracy, there 
was a great awakening, though of short continuance, 
in the days of Josiah ; and another soon after the 
return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, in 
the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. After that, there 
was another great falling away, down to the close of 
that dispensation when Shiloh came. 

Coming down to the New Testament, we have 
seen that there was a remarkable awakening under 
the preaching of John the Baptist, when many were 
turned to the Lord. We have seen that there was a 
marvellous outpouring of the Spirit on the day of 



292 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Pentecost, followed by a wonderful series of revivals 
in the apostolic age. We have seen how fast Chris- 
tianity spread over the pagan Koman empire, during 
the second and third centuries, and went on from 
conquest to conquest, till, in the person of Constan- 
tine, it ascended the throne of the Cassars. 

Scarcely had he descended to his marble tomb, 
when the " Man of sin exalted himself," and reigned 
in his stead ; and thence, entering the shadows of spir- 
itual death, we groped our way as well as we could 
through the midnight of a thousand years, by far the 
longest captivity that the Christian church ever en- 
dured — illumined, indeed, by here and there a star 
of the first magnitude, but scarcely more than to 
make the darkness visible. It was then that the 
blood of the martyrs flowed to the horse-bridles, 
and the devil no doubt congratulated himself that he 
should be thwarted by no more revivals. 

But we have seen how the glorious Reformation 
in the sixteenth century disappointed and baffled him ; 
spreading rapidly on every hand, and carrying dis- 
may to the pontifical throne itself. Marvellous res- 
urrection, from the slumbers of so many ages ! 

Then, again, we have seen how God, in the next 
century, poured out his Spirit upon the north of Ire- 
land and the churches of Scotland and England, and 
scattered a righteous seed across the ocean to people 
this western land. 

Coming down another hundred years, we have 
met the " Great Awakening," which turned back the 
captivity of Zion in England, Scotland, Wales, and 
America. It was the most remarkable and wide 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 293 

spread revival since the first promulgation of the 
gospel. 

We have next seen how, from various causes, there 
were grievous backslidings during our revolutionary 
war, the invasion of French infidelity, and the unset- 
tled state of the country, till near the close of the 
last century ; and how God then once more interpos- 
ed by " reviving his work in the midst of the years," 
and visiting his American heritage with an almost 
unbroken series of revivals, down to the present time. 

Thus unmistakably has it been God's method, 
under different dispensations, and all along through 
the ages, to carry on his work by successive outpour- 
ings of his Spirit. 

From this history of the past, we may derive in- 
struction and encouragement for the future. We 
cannot perhaps confidently predict, in this case, that 
" that which hath been, shall be." But how, in view 
of the past, can any church rest contented with only 
such gradual additions as are ordinarily made where 
for long years there are no revivals? Does not ex- 
perience prove that such churches, even if their num- 
bers are not diminished by death and removals, lose 
much of the life and power of religion ? However it 
may be elsewhere, I am quite sure it has been and is 
so in this country. The exceptions, if any, are very 
few indeed. If a church that has been running down, 
or standing still in cold formalism, could not hope for 
a revival, how gloomy would be its prospects for 
coming years and generations. But with the records 
of the past, in Bible and church history, and in view 
of what God is now doing, how great the encourage- 



294 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

ment that, in answer to prayer, He will revive his 
work even where to human appearance the prospects 
are darkest. 

As God waits to be inquired of before he pours 
out his Spirit, how earnestly ought every church to 
pray and labor for the blessing. Yes, to labor as 
well as to pray ; for there is much work to be done, 
as well as much prayer to be offered. The fallow 
ground must be broken up; the backsliding church 
must rise and shake herself from the dust. She must 
do works meet for repentance. She must carry her 
Master's gracious invitation to all within her reach. 
She must go out into the highways and hedges, and 
compel them to come in, that his table may be filled 
with guests. No church that is settled down on her 
lees has any warrant to expect a revival. " Go, work 
to-day in my vineyard," is the command. Soul-har- 
vests are to be secured by interceding for them, to the 
Lord of the harvest, and by cooperating with the 
Holy Spirit, in humble subordination, as laborers to- 
gether with him. It was the servant who went into 
the vineyard who received the reward, and not he 
who stayed behind, saying, I go, sir, but went not. 

To crown the whole, we have seen that, beginning 
with the apostles, all the prominent laborers in the 
revivals for eighteen hundred years, have, in every 
thing essential, seen eye to eye, and minded the same 
things; as much so, as if they had all lived in the 
same age, and labored together in the same glorious 
cause. Though differing somewhat in the external 
means employed, they preached the same doctrines, 
urged the same motives to faith and repentance, and 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 295 

looked for success to one and the same infinite source 
of all wisdom and efficiency. In coming along down 
through the centuries, it is delighful to see how they 
agreed together, how the same Spirit was in the re- 
vivals, awakening sinners, raising them by his quick- 
ening and almighty power from spiritual death to a 
new life, and working in them "to will and to do 
according to his own good pleasure.' 7 Oh, they are 
all divinely illuminated chapters in the history of 
Redemption. What would the world have been with- 
out them? How could the gospel have been spread 
in the first ages as it was, without revivals ? And 
so in every age they have been as life from the dead 
to the church. 

In our own country what would have become of 
the churches, but for the " Great Awakening ;; and 
the Revivals of 1300, and those by which they have 
since been so often refreshed? Prom what other 
sources could they have obtained an adequate supply 
of faithful and godly ministers? What, without them, 
would have been our religious condition at this hour ; 
aye, and our temporal condition too? Who will say, 
or believe, that there would now have been three or 
four millions of professors, or half that number, in the 
evangelical churches of this land? Great as are our 
obligations of praise and thanksgiving to God for 
giving us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, fill- 
ing our hearts with food and gladness, who can say 
that they are less due to him for raining down right- 
eousness upon us, as he has done in these times of 
refreshing. 

All evangelical Christians agree that God pours 



296 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

out his Spirit in answer to believing prayer, and that 
the more earnest and specific the prayer, the greater 
the encouragement that the very thing asked for will 
be granted. In his infinite wisdom and sovereignty, 
God may sometimes depart from his general method 
in carrying forward the work of redemption. We 
have no right to say that he never pours down his 
Spirit upon a church and congregation, till it is spe- 
cifically and earnestly prayed for; but if there be 
any such exceptions, I am persuaded they are very 
few. I very much doubt whether, if we could see the 
connection between prayer and the glorious revivals 
that have blessed this land, we should find one that 
was not definitely prayed for by some earnest wres- 
tlers, or wrestler, at the throne of grace. God loves 
to hear the petitions of his children for the blessing 
of the Spirit, and in this richest of his gifts to grant 
the very thing asked for, just as parents do when 
they give bread to their children. 

Now we cannot ask our heavenly Father to revive 
his work in any place, unless we truly desire it. If 
for any reason we are afraid that it would not be a 
blessing, it would be scarcely less than mockery to 
ask for it. No truly pious person could understand- 
ingly do it. To pray aright, we must from the bot- 
tom of our hearts desire the things we ask for. Noth- 
ing seems plainer to me, than that this is essential to 
true prayer. 

If a church can be found in this land, or any other 
land, where the minister and the members of it are 
afraid of such genuine revivals as distinguish the 
religious history of this country, they cannot honestly 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 29T 

pray for them; and would it be strange if such a 
church and congregation were passed by, when other 
places around were visited? Would it not, on the 
contrary, be strange if it received the blessing? Is 
there evidence that God ever revives his work where 
it is not wished for? If I knew that anywhere revi- 
vals were not desired, but rather dreaded, I should 
want no other explanation of the fact that they are 
not enjoyed. This seems to me to be reason enough. 
There may be individual conversions and gradual 
additions to the churches in answer to prayer, and 
because they are desired ; but can such glorious har- 
vests as many of our churches have from time to time 
been reaping be expected, if not desired, or prayed or 
labored for? 

When I was abroad more than twenty years ago, 
and when many powerful revivals were in progress 
here at home, I was often inquired of by ministers, 
whether the accounts which they Kad heard were 
true ; and what was the character, and what were the 
fruits of these revivals. In answering these questions 
as well as I could, I magnified the grace of God in what 
I had myself witnessed. The impression upon some 
minds was obviously very favorable. They desired to 
share in the same blessing, and doubtless prayed for it 
not in vain. There was soon after what we should 
call a genuine revival in Dr. Reed's church in London, 
who had travelled extensively in this country the year 
before, and witnessed what God was doing among us. 
And other such revivals I believe there have since 
been in England, though not so much spoken of un- 
der that name as they would have been with us. 

13* 



298 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Within the last year, our brethren in England and 
Scotland have been remarkably stirred up to the 
establishment of church and union prayer-meetings 
for the outpouring of the Spirit, and from the latest 
accounts it would seem the Lord has heard and an- 
swered. It looks very much as if revivals were now 
springing up in various parts of the kingdom. May 
they be increased a thousand-fold, not only there, but 
in all the fatherlands as well as our own. Oh, how 
delightful it will be to hear songs, " Glory to the 
righteous," borne across the ocean on every breeze ! 
" Though the vision tarry, let us wait for it ; because 
it will surely come, it will not tarry." 

God will work all things according to his own 
holy and righteous will, but who can conceive that 
all the dark and besotted millions of heathen and 
nominally Christian lands will be brought to Christ 
solely by the slow process of individual conversions 
through the long succession of years and centuries? 
As the revival which has just occurred in our own 
land, in some of its features, differs from, and I think 
is in advance of any former revival era, so God may 
speedily bring up the churches to a still higher stand- 
ard, and multiply conversions both at home and 
abroad, beyond any thing that has yet been witnessed. 
Every one will admit that this is possible. 

I can conceive that multitudes more of the hopeless 
classes of the wicked may be plucked from the burn- 
ing, than in any former revival. I can conceive that 
far greater numbers of the young may be born again, 
than ever before, where God has poured out his Spir- 
it. I can conceive that where whole classes have 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 299 

sometimes been converted in our Sabbath and other 
schools, all the classes may be taken in a single year, 
or month. I can conceive that the next revival may 
spread over the whole land ; that not a single church 
may be passed by ; that it may find its way into both 
houses of Congress, and pervade all the halls of leg- 
islation, and bring our great men with all their influ- 
ence into the churches. I can conceive that G-od 
may give his ministers higher qualifications for their 
work, endowing them all with a double portion of 
his Spirit, that he may convert all our merchant-ships, 
and all the navy, like the ship-of-war "North Caro- 
lina," into Bethels to bear the songs of salvation with 
our stripes and stars round the world, and that all 
the officers and soldiers in our army may become sol- 
diers of the cross. 

The Spirit is not bound. Nothing is too hard for 
the Lord. I can conceive that in one or more of 
these respects the next revival may be far in advance 
of the present, and that in as many of them as may 
precede the millennium and bring it on, the last may 
be the most glorious of all. Then there will be no 
more room nor need of what we now mean by revi- 
vals, for the churches will always remain in a reviv- 
ed state; but I am afraid not before. Then, in the 
thousand years promised and sure to come, all shall 
know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. 

How the successive generations will be gathered 
into the fold of the true Shepherd and Bishop of their 
souls, we cannot tell. Children will then be " by 
nature children of wrath " as they are now, and will 
just as much need to be born again by the Spirit. 



300 REVIVAL SKETCHES. 

Whether they will be sanctified from the womb, we 
do not know ; but if not, we have reason to think it 
will be in yery early childhood. I cannot believe 
they will be left for years to grow up enemies to 
God, when with infinite ease he can convert them 
before they begin to harden themselves in rebellion 
against him. It seems to me it could not be the mil- 
lennium which the Scriptures promise. All would not 
know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. 

But I make no pretensions to be wise above what 
is written. In his own time and way, the whole 
"earth shall be filled with the knowledge and glory 
of the Lord." 

And now, in closing these imperfect sketches, I 
feel specially called upon to lift up my heart in de- 
vout thanksgivings to God, that he has permitted me 
to live in this eventful age of the world's religious 
history ; that for more than fifty years, I have had 
such advantages for studying the character and mark- 
ing the progress of revivals, and laboring in them as 
God has given me strength for the service, during a 
pastorate of sixteen years in two rural parishes, twen- 
ty-two years as a pastor and teacher in a public sem- 
inary, and as a helper to my brethren in such times 
of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Oh, to 
have been allowed to witness the triumphs of Zion's 
King, travelling in the greatness of his strength, since 
I came upon the stage ; to have been spared* to go 
back into the ages past, and trace the footsteps of 
the Angel of the covenant down through so many 

* Dr. Humphrey, in writing this, had reached the age of 
fourscore years. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY. 301 

centuries, and to bear this testimony in favor of an- 
cient and modern revivals ; what a privilege ! It is 
at best, but a rapid, imperfect sketch that I have 
given. Others I am sure could have done it better, 
What a history will that be, when some one compe- 
tent to the task shall collect and arrange the materi- 
als which are already so ample for a great work, and 
which will be increased by every future revival. That 
day will come ; and then, how much will such a his- 
tory, recording the triumphs of the Captain of salva- 
tion over the prince of darkness, surpass all the con- 
quests of all the Alexanders, Csesars. and Napoleons 
of the world ! 



PAET SECOND. 



REVIVAL MANUAL. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

"PREPARE YE THE WAT OP THE LORD.'.' 

Having in the preceding sketches traced the 
progress of true religion down through the ages for 
more than three thousand years, and established, as I 
think, the great fact, that the church has been restor- 
ed from her many backslidings mainly by successive 
reformations or revivals, in other words, by special 
outpourings of the Spirit, the way is now prepared to 
inquire, with devout supplications for divine guidance, 
how such revivals are to be sought for, and by what 
means they may be promoted. These are vital prac- 
tical questions. 

I am far from supposing that there are any exclu- 
sive methods of promoting revivals, suited to all cases 
and circumstances. Whatever instrumentalities may 



304 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

be employed, there are two conditions which must 
never be lost sight of: 

That there can never be any true revival without 
the outpouring of the Spirit, and that it can proceed 
no further than it is carried forward by that divine 
influence; and 

That a revival is never to be expected but in an- 
swer to prayer. 

But beyond these two conditions there is room for 
different administrations, as there are divers opera- 
tions by the same Spirit. Guided by the teachings of 
the word and Spirit of God, there is room for the 
exercise of a sound discretion, aided by the best 
experience which the history of revivals furnishes; 
and this is what, seeking divine assistance, I have 
attempted in this humble manual. It is the result 
of my own experience and observation, with the best 
helps which I have been able to derive from other 
sources. 

"0 LORD, REVIVE THY WORK." 

This prayer was offered by the prophet in a time 
of great religious declension. The people had " slid- 
den back by a perpetual backsliding," and he felt 
that nothing short of a revival could save them from 
utter apostasy. It was the greatest and most urgent 
of all their needs. 

As it was then so it is now, wherever a church is 
in a cold backsliding state, and sinners are slumber- 
ing on the verge of the pit. That the need is not felt, 
that the danger is not apprehended, is so far from 
proving that no special revival is needed, that this 



LORD, REVIVE THY WORK. 305 

state of things in any church and congregation makes 
a revival more necessary ; the more profound the in- 
difference, the greater the necessity. 

Is this the case, dear brethren, with you? You 
either need a revival, or you do not. Perhaps your 
church and congregation are large, strong, and united. 
You have a good minister and support him well, and 
your congregation rather increases from year to year, 
than diminishes. You are ready to say with the 
church of Laodicea, " We are rich and increased with 
goods, and have need of nothing." Is this your con- 
dition? are these your contented feelings? Then, like 
that church, are you not spiritually "wretched and 
miserable and poor and blind and naked;" and ex- 
cept you repent, what will all your harmony and out- 
ward prosperity avail? 

How long is it that you have been thus settled 
down upon your lees, sowing pillows under all arm- 
holes? How many years since you have had a revi- 
val? How is it with the rising generation? Are 
they converted, or likely to be, without a revival? 
The older members of your church are passing off, 
and who are to fill their places, if others are not 
" baptized for the dead?" And what are you doing? 
Are you on your knees, praying with the prophet, 
" Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years f 
or are you waiting for one another, hoping that the 
whole church will wake up, and call upon God for the 
blessing? If waiting for this, your expectations will 
never be realized. That time will never come. We 
have no reason to think that all the members of any 
church are themselves truly converted; and if not, 



306 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

how can all the church be expected to unite in pre- 
vailing prayer ? 

Other churches around may be as languid as you 
are, or they may not. If they are, is that any reason 
why you should remain so? Ought it not to awaken 
your fears that God has forsaken the whole region, 
saying, " They are joined to their idols ; let them 
alone. 7 ' If, on the other hand, your neighbors are 
rejoicing in the midst of revivals, why should you 
not be excited and encouraged to strive for the bless- 
ing? 

How, dear brethren, would it be with you, in an- 
other case somewhat analogous, though infinitely less 
urgent. Suppose there was a great drought in your 
town, consuming all your crops and threatening you 
with famine when what you have on hand shall all 
be eaten up; and suppose the same were the case 
with all the region around, would it give you any 
comfort to know that you were no worse off than 
your neighbors ? Or if the showers were refreshing 
their parched fields, would it not awaken and in- 
crease your anxiety for equally copious rains? Oh, 
with what eagerness would you watch the rising 
clouds, and how it would distress you to see them 
from day to day passing by upon the mountains, and 
leaving your farms to become "powder and dust," 
under a brazen and burning sky. 

And how can you remain indifferent while a more 
parching spiritual drought is consuming you? Will 
you not rise as one man, and call upon God to pour 
down the rain from the upper heavens, to revive his 
work in the midst of the years ? 



LORD, INCREASE OUR FAITH. 301 

"LORD, INCREASE OUR FAITH." 

The disciples had faith, but on the occasion in 
which this prayer is recorded, they seem not to have 
had the faith necessary to work miracles in Christ's 
name. They now felt their deficiency, and prayed 
their Master to help them — to increase their faith, so 
that they might be able to make full proof of its 
power. They were brought to feel their absolute 
dependence on Christ for the increase which they 
needed, at the same time that they felt they deserved 
his rebuke for their unbelief. 

In like manner, Christians are absolutely depend- 
ent on Christ to enable them to pray in faith for a 
revival, or when it is in progress, that it may be con- 
tinued. How often have we heard the exhortation, 
" Pray, pray in faith, and God will certainly hear and 
answer you." This is very true. It shall not be said 
that such praying breath was ever spent in vain. But 
faith is the gift of God ; and how can you pray in 
faith, till you receive the gift? The Christian, wheth- 
er in a revival or out of a revival, is dependent on 
Christ for a spirit of prayer. 

Every true Christian has some faith, however 
weak and wavering, as the disciples had, and can 
therefore pray as they did, "■ Lord, increase my faith f 
but that faith, though less than " a grain of mustard 
seed/' would be as much the gift of God as was the 
strong faith of Abraham or Moses. 

If this be so, what is one of the first duties of the 
members of a church, when their graces are languish- 
ing, and stupidity reigns throughout the whole com- 
munity? Is it not prayer for themselves? "Lord, stir 



308 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

us up, give us a spirit of prayer for those who are per- 
ishing around us. Lord, we believe thy promises; 
help thou our unbelief. Increase our faith." This is 
beginning at the beginning, and if you are in a cold, 
backsliding state, what can you do ? What will your 
prayers for a revival avail, till you have a revival 
spirit of prayer ? And will you not earnestly ask for 
that, as the first and essential thing? See what Da- 
vid's penitential prayer after his fall was : " Restore 
unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me by 
thy free Spirit j then will I teach transgressors thy 
ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." 

So, dear friends, when iniquity abounds, and your 
love waxes cold, should you say, " Lord, increase our 
faith," then will we pray earnestly and prevailingly 
for the revival of thy work in the midst of us. Oh, 
how much prayer for the conversion of sinners is lost, 
for want of faith in the hearts of Christians. 

HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 

Are there any; and if so, what are they? That 
there are no insuperable obstacles in the way we 
know, for revivals have often taken place where, to 
human view, they were least to be expected. And 
yet there are hinderances everywhere, which nothing 
short of divine power can overcome. These are the 
world, the flesh, and the devil I know of none but may 
be classed under one or the other of these three ob- 
stacles. 

1. The world, by which I mean its inbred hostility 
to all spiritual religion, whether in individuals or 
communities : its direct hostility, its maxims, its al- 



HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 309 

lurements, its temptations in their wily and protean 
forms, stand directly in the way of a revival. There 
never would be one if the world, thus understood, 
could prevent it. In enlightened Christian commu- 
nities, unconverted men may profess to "be the friends 
of true religion, and to wish to see it prosper ; but as 
in their hearts they are opposed to it, they will, in 
one way or another, discourage that interest and con- 
cern in which a true revival consists. They want to 
have things continue as they are. "We are now at 
peace among ourselves," they say, " and why should 
it be broken in upon? Why not let well enough 
alone? Religion is a good thing," it may be added, 
"but all public excitements are dangerous. These 
revivals, as they are called, lead to enthusiasm and 
fanaticism. They often divide churches and families, 
and are rather to be dreaded than desired." Thus 
do the opposers of revivals reason in their hearts, if 
they do not think it polite to speak it openly. All 
their influence is directly or indirectly against them. 
This, in many places, is a very great hinderance. 

And the world, ever, wise to do evil, knows how 
to set the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and 
the pride of life against the intrusion of revivals. It 
holds up so many dazzling fascinations, it keeps men 
so busy, so eager in the pursuit of pleasure, riches, 
and display, that they have no time for any thing bet- 
ter. It spreads out all these allurements, and hangs 
them up in their most tempting attractions along the 
broad way 5 and alas, with what success — drowning 
thoughtless multitudes " in destruction and perdition." 
How many revivals have been kept out by these hos- 



310 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

tile influences, will not be known till the day of judg- 
ment; but they are certainly great hinderances. In 
fine, whatever the world can do to hedge up the way 
against revivals, we may rest assured will be done 
in one way or another. But, 

2. The flesh is a still more insidious and danger- 
ous foe to revivals. There is more danger within, 
than without. The hinderances are greater from the 
church itself, than from the world. It is reasonably 
expected, that those who profess religion will do 
more to honor and promote it by their example, by 
their consistent lives, and by their active influence 
than any, or than all others out of the pale of the 
church. Hinderances from this quarter are often 
many and exceedingly grievous. Sometimes there 
are bitter internal dissensions, which would disgrace 
any mere worldly association. "Brother goeth to 
law with brother." The personal friends of the par- 
ties take sides with their respective favorites, and 
thus the breach is widened, "as when one letteth out 
water." The house is divided against itself. Crimi- 
nations and recriminations are engendered and mul- 
tiplied. The world looks on jeeringly, and exclaims, 
"Behold how these Christians hate one another! If 
this is religion, we want none of it. If these are some 
of the fruits of revivals, the fewer the better." 

Sometimes reproaches come from open and indulg- 
ed immorality. Members of the church become in- 
temperate, dishonest in their dealings, or fall into 
other habitual transgressions of the second table of 
the law, bringing great scandal upon their profession, 
and are not called to account bv the church. Thev 



HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 311 

are allowed to retain their standing, and come to the 
Lord's table, year after year. The world looks on 
and perhaps says, " Here you see some of the fruits of 
a great revival, as it was called, years ago. These 
were some of the converts. See what they have 
come to, and see how the church winks at such scan- 
dalous violations of their covenant, when they are 
known and read of all men. We don't wish to see 
any more such revivals." 

Or if the church-members become so conformed 
to the world, to its feverish passion for money get- 
ting and show, for doubtful, if not positively sinful 
amusements; if they strive to outshine the gay and 
thoughtless in dress, in furniture, in parties, in equi- 
page ; if instead of " striving against sin," they fall 
in with the loose maxims of mere worldly men, it 
cannot but be noticed by those who make no preten- 
sions to piety, and thus prejudice many, not only 
against real religion, but against all revivals, since 
in many cases it is understood that the majority of 
the church-members have been brought in during 
such seasons of religious interest. 

These are " works of the flesh," yielding to biases 
within and temptations without, which are among 
the greatest hinderances to revivals. Such churches 
are in no condition to receive the blessing. The 
wonder is, not that they are passed by for years and 
years, but that they are ever visited. 

3. There are still other hinderances from a great- 
er foe than either the world or the flesh, " the wiles 
of the devil, 11 who is sure to guard the entrance to a 
revival by throwing every obstacle in the way, that 



312 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

his vast capacity and malignity can invent. Against 
these the church cannot too vigilantly work, or too 
earnestly pray. His devices to keep out revivals, 
and to oppose and corrupt them in their progress, 
are inexhaustible. If he could prevent it, there 
never would be another. Blessed assurance, that 
"for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, 
that he might destroy the works of the devil ;" and- 
He will do it. He is doing it, by various instrumen- 
talities in the heathen world, and by revivals there, 
as well as in Christian lands. 

All these three, the world, the flesh, and the devil, 
are positive hinderances, and if God does not inter- 
pose, either of them is sufficient to prevent a revival. 

"TAKE UP THE STUMBLING-BLOCKS OUT OF 
THE WAY." 

Having pointed out some of the main hinderances 
and obstacles which lie in the way of revivals, I feel 
bound to show, if I can, what is to be done to remove 
the stumbling-blocks — how the way of the Lord may 
be prepared, that he may come into his vineyard and 
water it. Where great obstacles lie in the way of 
any thing, they must be removed. This is the first 
step. It may or may not be all that is required in 
any given case, but it is the first thing to be done. 
The stone that blocks the wheels must be removed. 
Obstacles which by accident or design forbid the 
advance of the railcars must be taken away, the track 
must be cleared ; then they can proceed, but not be- 
fore. So with all physical impediments ; they must 
be removed, or in some way overcome. 



HINDERANCES TO REVIVALS. 313 

The same is true in morals and religion, within 
their legitimate spheres. Whatever hinder ances are 
found to lie in the path, must be taken out of the 
way. These hinderances to revivals, as we have 
seen, are the world, the flesh, and the devil. We 
cannot prepare the way by gaining "the friendship 
of the world," which " is enmity with God f but by 
his help, we can counteract its hostile influences upon 
ourselves and others. Neither individuals nor church- 
es can secure themselves from those outward tempta- 
tions which war against the soul; but by the grace 
of God, they can resist them. They can let their 
own light so shine before men, that there shall be no 
occasion to inquire, " What do ye more than others ?" 
They can so withdraw from conformity to the world, 
and so carefully shun all appearance of evil, as to 
shut the mouths of gainsayers, and constrain them to 
admit, that there must be a reality in religion, and 
that revivals which produce such fruits cannot be of 
men, but must come from a higher power. A church 
that has let down its watch, and ceased to discipline 
its members when they fall away and bring reproach 
upon the cause of Christ, can repent, and purge out 
the old leaven, and take away the reproach. A back- 
sliding church can rise and shake herself from the 
dust, in spite of all the opiates that the world has 
power to administer. She can betake herself in ear- 
nest to invite a revival, by taking up the stumbling- 
blocks which impede the chariot of salvation. 

There is no preventing our adversary the devil 
from employing all his temptations and stratagems to 
keep out revivals. There is nothing that he hates and 

Rev. Sketches. 14 



3U REVIVAL MANUAL. 

fears so much as the opening of the heavens to pour 
down righteousness upon a languishing church, and a 
dying congregation. With his consent, as I have said, 
there would never be another "awakening," great 
or small, to the end of the world. But we " are not 
ignorant of his devices," and he can be resisted. 
When the proper means are used to obtain the bless- 
ing, he can no more prevent a spiritual shower from 
descending upon the most parched enclosure of the 
vineyard, than he can stay the bottles of heaven 
when the dust groweth into hardness, and the clouds 
cleave fast together. 

There are no hinderances to revivals from with- 
out or within, but may be removed or overcome. It 
is not in wicked men or devils to fence out these vis- 
itations from on high, to throw such stumbling-blocks 
in the way that they cannot enter. Every tempta- 
tion, every opposing influence, whether open or secret, 
may be successfully resisted ; "not by might, nor by 
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." 

THE SAVIOUR'S RETURN. 

° When Jesus returned, the people gladly received 
him ; for they were all waiting for him." Christ had 
crossed over the lake of Galilee to G-adara, where he 
found a raving maniac among the tombs possessed 
with many devils, and cast them out. How long he 
staid there, we are not informed ; but when he came 
back, he found the people gathered on the shore and 
waiting for him. They had enjoyed his presence 
and instructions and seen his miracles, and they were 
so anxious for his return, that they resolved to be at 



THE SAVIOUR'S RETURN, 315 

the place of landing in season to welcome him; and 
when he came, they received him with rejoicing. 

This incident is full of instruction and encourage- 
ment, and was doubtless recorded for our learning 
on whom the ends of the world are come. Let us 
inquire then what is meant by waiting for Christ's 
return, when he has been for a longer or shorter time 
absent. 

1. It implies desire. "When we wait for an absent 
friend, it is not in a state of indifference. It is be- 
cause we want to see him, and want to enjoy the 
pleasure of his society. So it was with that waiting 
company on the shore of the lake. They would not 
have gathered there, much less would they have wait- 
ed, if they had not wished for his return. Neither 
can a church, that once enjoyed the special presence 
of Christ in a revival, be said to be waiting for a like 
blessing, if they do not earnestly desire his return. 
Time passes. Years perhaps roll away. They some- 
times talk about him, and profess, it may be, to lament 
his long absence. But they are not waiting for him, 
till they desire his return so earnestly as to pray for it. 
Any thing short of this is not waiting for him. 

2. Waiting for Christ implies hope and expectation. 
Thus when you are waiting for a valued friend who 
has been some time absent, you have some expectation 
at least that he will come, though you do not cer- 
tainly know when ; else you would not wait for him : 
you could not ; you would have no motive to wait any 
longer, however anxious you might be to meet and 
welcome him. Neither could a church in a time of 
general declension be said to wait for the Saviour's 



316 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

return, if they had no encouragement to expect it. 
It is not in the constitution of the human mind, sanc- 
tified or unsanctified, to wait for any thing without 
hope or expectation. The multitude would not have 
stood on the shore of Galilee, anxiously looking across 
the water to catch the first glimpse of the boat, if they 
had not expected it. They would have gone away, 
or rather, they would not have come. 

3. Waiting for Christ to come and revive his 
work, implies a preparation in the church to receive 
him. When he came back from his mission across 
the lake, the people "gladly received him." They 
were ready to listen to his instruction, and witness 
his wonderful works. This was what they came 
together for. They did not remain at home till they 
heard that he had lauded, but went down to meet and 
welcome him. This was their preparation. This 
was the proof that they were anxiously waiting for 
him. 

And how do you do when you are expecting a 
visit from a dear friend, or when you are looking for 
some distinguished guest, and do not know at what 
time he will come, whether to-day or to-morrow? 
You don't put off your preparations till the coach 
drives up to the door. You consider beforehand 
what kind of reception he will reasonably expect, and 
do your best to prepare for it. You would not, when 
you met him, say, " I am very glad to see you, I have 
been expecting and waiting for you a long time," 
when you had got nothing ready to make him wel- 
come and comfortable. There may be delay, but 
there is no real waiting like that which we are now 



THE SAVIOUR'S RETURN. 311 

considering, which does not include these three things 
at least — desire, expectation, and some good degree of 
preparation for the desired visit or blessing. 

And now, dear brethren, how is it with you ? How 
is it with your church? Much as we read and hear 
of revivals, and however so many of them there may 
be in the land, hundreds, yea, thousands of churches 
remain unvisited, and yours may be one of the num- 
ber. How long is it then since the Saviour made 
you his last visit? How many years since he was 
with you, calling sinners to repentance, and making 
them " willing in the day of his power ?" How long 
has he been gone, and you mourned his absence? 
Are you waiting for him to return, as the people were 
at the lake of Galilee ? Do you earnestly desire him 
to come to you speedily? Does this desire ascend up 
to his mercy-seat in earnest, persevering prayer ? Do 
you expect him ? You may, if you ask aright ; for his 
ear is always open, and he has bound himself by 
great and precious promises. Have you not been 
long in a state so cold and indifferent as almost, if 
not quite, to give up the hope that he will ever return ; 
and have you not very much given over asking him ? 

The people of Galilee received him joyfully, be- 
cause they were waiting for him, and prepared for 
his return. Are you, I ask again, looking anxiously 
out for him? If he were to return, are you prepared 
to welcome him into your houses, and into your 
hearts? "Would he find you waking, and looking out 
for his return ; or would he find you saying, " A little 
more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more fold- 
ing of the hands to sleep?" 



318 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

Oh, brethren, brethren, this will not do! "It is 
high time to wake out of sleep." Souls are perish- 
ing, and you are answerable. Christ would ere this 
have been with you, reviving his work, if you had 
been waiting for him. Whose urgent voice is it but 
his, that I seem to hear at your very threshold, " Be- 
hold, I stand at the door, and knock. If any man hear 
my voice, and open the door, I will come in unto him, 
and sup with him, and he with me.' 7 And if he will 
come to one who is waiting for him, how much more 
if he finds all his friends waiting as he did on the 
shore of Galilee? 

"COME DOWN ERE MY CHILD DIE." 

Jesus Christ was a great physician. He was so 
regarded by the Jews at Nazareth, where he was 
brought up. "Ye will surely say unto me this prov- 
erb, Physician, heal thyself.' 7 They had heard of the 
wonderful cures which he wrought in Capernaum, 
and reproached him for not doing the same among 
them, when they were so far from receiving and lis- 
tening to him even with common civility, that they 
thrust him out of the city, and sought to cast him 
down headlong from the brow of the hill on which 
it was built. Why should he heal their sick when 
they would not even allow him to remain another 
day or hour among them? 

He was a physician of the bodies as well as the 
souls of men. Of this we have the most abundant 
testimony in the gospels. We have reason to believe 
he wrought more bodily cures than any other physi- 
cian ever did, or ever will. Take the following as 



COME DOWN ERE MY CHILD DIE. 319 

examples: "At even, when the sun did set, they 
brought unto him all that were diseased, and them 
that were possessed with devils ; and all the city was 
gathered at the door. And he healed many that 
were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many dev- 
ils." This was done at Capernaum. Mark 1 : 32-34. 
" And Jesus went up into a mountain, and sat down 
there/ 7 near the sea of Galilee, " and great multitudes 
came unto him, having with them those that were 
lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast 
them down at Jesus' feet, and he healed them." Matt. 
15 : 29. " And Jesus went about all Galilee, teach- 
ing in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of 
the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and 
all manner of disease among the people.' 7 Matt. 
4 : 23, 24. He was not the physician of any one city 
or place merely. He went about doing good. He 
travelled all over the land. He visited and healed 
the sick wherever he was sent for, and he never lost 
a patient. Nor did he confine his cures to the sick 
of his own country : " His fame went throughout all 
Syria, and they brought unto him all sick people, that 
were taken with divers diseases and torments ; and 
those which were possessed with devils, and those 
which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy, and 
he healed them." What multitudes must he have 
cured of all sorts of diseases, during the three and a 
half years of his public ministry, wherever he went. 
A number of affecting incidents are recorded, of 
which this is one : " A certain nobleman's son was 
sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was 
come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, 



320 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

and besought him that he would come down and heal 
his son, for he was at the point of death. Then said 
Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye 
will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Come 
down ere my child die." And Jesus would doubt- 
less have gone down at once, had not the nobleman's 
faith prevented. " G-o thy way," saith he, " thy son 
liveth." The man believed the word and went his 
way, and that very hour the child began to amend. 

Jesus no longer visits the sick, or cures diseases 
by his visible bodily presence ; but there are now, as 
there were then, diseases of the soul far more malig- 
nant and alarming, and we have, if possible, still 
greater encouragement to apply to him for healing. 

Suppose there was now a terrible epidemic raging 
all over the land, and sweeping off thousands every 
week, and so malignant as thus far to baffle all the 
skill of the best physicians. And suppose that in this 
state of universal gloom and despair, we should learn 
that a physician had just come from afar into the 
very next town, and had already effected many won- 
derful cures in cases of the greatest extremity; in 
fact, curing all as soon and as fast as they applied to 
him, and that he was just as much needed with us as 
with them; what would you do? Would you not 
send for him at once, urging him by every possible 
motive to come, and give you too the benefits of his 
skill ? If the first application did not prevail, would 
you not dispatch messenger after messenger, urging 
him with increasing importunity, " Come down ere 
we all die?" I am sure you would, and so would all 
in like circumstances, who should hear of his wonder- 



COME DOWN ERE MY CHILD DIE. 321 

ful success. You would give him no rest as long as 
there was a possibility of persuading him to come. 
You could not stand and see your children die, till 
the last effort to save them had failed. And if it be- 
came known that he had already visited many other 
places, with unfailing success, and had never given a 
refusal when suitably applied to — if by any unaccount- 
able infatuation you had delayed sending for him till 
he was gone, leaving the pestilence still to sweep 
on, would not all who should hear of it say, "They 
have no one to blame but themselves. They are per- 
ishing by their own neglect. The physician was near 
and ready to come, but he was not invited.' 7 I know 
that such a case can never happen. But it strikingly 
suggests a familiar analogy, which must be still more 
astonishing to the angels than that would be. 

Jesus Christ, the great Physician, is present by 
his Spirit, wherever there is a revival of religion. 
Many such gracious visits he is now making, in 
almost every part of the land. He is doing his 
mighty works in healing multitudes who were ready 
to perish. But the number of places yet unvisited is 
far greater — places where there are no revivals. 
Yours may be one of them, and the great Physician 
may have come into your immediate neighborhood, 
where souls were perishing, and where he is now 
plucking them as brands from the burning. Certain- 
ly he is not so far off, but that you can apply to him 
without the least delay. Some of you hope, that in 
some former visit, years ago, when he found you at 
the point of death, he applied the balm of Gilead and 
saved you. But in looking round over your families 



322 REYIYAL MANUAL. 

and neighborhoods, you see that hundreds, it may be 
thousands, are in the same danger that you were in, 
and you know that they must perish for ever, if not 
healed in like manner. It is a case of life and death 
with every one of them — not of temporal, but of eter- 
nal death. 

And what are you doing ? You cannot save them. 
None of your physicians can reach their case. It is 
desperate beyond all human help. But there is the 
almighty Physician, perhaps within an hour's ride, 
multiplying his spiritual cures, and waiting to be in- 
vited by you with the same earnestness which brought 
him there. You " stand between the living and the 
dead f and let me affectionately ask, What are you 
doing ? Why are you not enjoying the blessings of a 
revival, as well as your neighbors — as well as any 
other church and congregation in the land? God is 
no respecter of persons, or of places. It cannot be 
owing to any reluctance to come, on the part of the 
great Physician, that he has passed you by. Nothing 
is wanting but preparation of heart, and earnest, be- 
lieving prayer, to bring him to you. He wants to 
come. He is only waiting for you to ask aright, and 
he will come. As he never refused when he was per- 
sonally going about doing good to the bodies and 
souls of men, so now it shall never be said to those 
who seek him, that they seek in vain. If there was 
a mortal sickness threatening to sweep off not more 
than one-tenth of your population, and you heard of 
a physician anywhere within reach, who was perform- 
ing more cures of the same disease than all others to 
whom you could apply, though he might have lost 



PREACHING. 323 

some patients, you would lose no time, you would 
spare no expense to bring him to the bedside of your 
sick friends. And now, will you, can you do less, 
when the great majority are infected with the heart- 
plague, which no medicine can arrest ; when there is 
One of infinitely more than mortal skill, who stands 
ready to come and cure all, without money and with- 
out price? If you have no revival and they perish, 
consider, ye professed friends of Christ, in whose 
skirts their blood will be found. Dare you slumber 
on and meet the answer in the great day? Can you 
give one blameless reason why you are not now en- 
joying a revival as well as other churches and con- 
gregations ? 

PREACHING. 

Peeaching is the chief instrumentality by which 
the way of the Lord is prepared, when religion has 
sunk to a low ebb, and he is about to revive his work. 
The first thing is that the church be awakened from 
its slumbers. Till this is done, there is very little 
hope that sinners will be awakened ; and it requires 
an earnestness in the pulpit, a directness of appeal, a 
sounding of alarm to professors, which shall make 
their ears tingle. They must be dealt with plainly, 
as standing in the way of a revival, as stumbling- 
blocks lying in the path, instead of living witnesses 
for Christ before the world. The guilt as well as 
the danger of their backslidings must be faithfully 
pointed out. They must be earnestly exhorted to 
"repent and do their first works;' 7 to examine them- 
selves whether they are in the faith, whether their 



324 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

own hopes are well founded, whether remaining as 
they are, they can have any good evidence that they 
are not yet in their sins. They must be told plainly 
that there are false professors in the churches, and 
they must be exhorted to wake and rise from the 
dead, that Christ may give them life. They must be 
shown that they are in a fearful degree answerable 
for the reigning worldliness and spiritual death 
around them. In dealing with them, the preacher 
must use the word of God, which is sharper than a 
two-edged sword, as the surgeon uses his knife, though 
it cut deep into the quick. It may lead some real 
Christians for a time to distrust and renounce their 
hope. It probably will, but it will do them good in 
the end, by making them more watchful and prayer- 
ful and faithful to their covenant vows. Under such 
a course of preaching, it may be hoped that the wise 
virgins will be startled from their slumber, and that 
'fearfulness will surprise the hypocrites. 7 It may 
require more than one sermon, or two. It probably 
will. How many, no minister can tell till he has 
made the trial and witnessed the effect. Let him 
not give over till he has made full proof — " line upon 
line, precept upon precept." He must expect that 
many of his hearers will wonder why he should dwell 
so much upon one topic, and it will not be strange if 
some of his best members should feel that he bears 
too hard upon them, though they may not tell him so. 
But if his searching appeals sink down in their hearts 
and rouse them to prayer and action, and G-od pours 
out his Spirit, they will be thankful that the preacher 
did not let them alone till, by the grace of God, they 



PREACHING. 325 

were constrained to rise and shake themselves from 
the dust. 

Said one of the most pious deacons of my church, 
after a glorious revival which brought in nearly all 
the most influential men in the place, " I wondered, 
before the work commenced, why you preached so 
long and pointedly to the church. I knew we were 
in a cold state, and needed to be waked up, but at 
the time it seemed almost cruel in you to lay the 
blame of our never having had a general revival so 
heavily upon the church ; I now see that we need- 
ed it, and bless God, that he moved you to deal 
so faithfully with us, both in the pulpit and out of 
it." Some others had the same hard thoughts, and 
were led to change their minds in the same way, after 
they had seen and rejoiced in the salvation of God. 
If we had all the facts, I believe it would be found 
that nearly all of the most powerful revivals have 
been immediately preceded by a loud and earnest 
sounding of alarm in the ears of the churches. How 
can any pastor of a dead church, who "travails 
in birth" for souls, rest satisfied till, relying on 
Divine aid, he has faithfully made the attempt ? Nor 
should it be confined to the pulpit. The subject should 
be kept before the mind of the church at weekly lec- 
tures and prayer-meetings, and in private exhorta- 
tions, till it shall be evident that she is in some good 
degree prepared to receive a blessing. As soon as 
that shall be the case, the prayer will go up from 
many lips, Lord, what wilt thou have us to do ? 

When a church is brought to this point, there is 
every reason to hope that God is about to revive his 



326 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

work in the congregation. And then the way is pre- 
pared for a series of pointed and rousing discourses 
to the impenitent. Then is the time for the preacher 
to wield " the sword of the Spirit," to lift up his voice 
like a trumpet, to cry aloud and not spare. Just 
here, the first thing to be aimed at is to gain the 
sinner's attention. Failing in this, though an angel 
were to come down from heaven and occupy the 
pulpit, his preaching would avail nothing. It would 
do no more good than speaking into the cold ear 
of death. The careless sinner must somehow be influ- 
enced to " think on his ways," to consider what his 
actual condition is, what his relations to God are, 
what the law requires, what the gospel offers, and 
what must be the inevitable consequences of his liv- 
ing as he has done, and dying in his present state. 
I. say you must first gain his serious attention, before 
you can hope that your preaching will do him good. 
And how is he to be awakened? " Not by might, nor 
by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." Never- 
theless, it hath "pleased God by the foolishness of 
preaching," as the Greeks stigmatized it, to awaJzen 
sinners as well as to save them. 

And in such a state of things, when a cloud of 
mercy has come over a place, what kind of preaching 
is wanted? What texts and subjects are best adapted 
to wake the slumbering, and constrain them to flee 
from the wrath to come? Not such preaching as a 
backsliding church needs, not such as young converts 
want, but a series of discourses upon such topics as 
these : the entire sinfulness of the human heart in the 
sight of a holy God; the strictness and righteous 



PREACHING. 321 

penalty of his law ; the certainty that it will be in- 
flicted in the awful and endless punishment of all who 
die impenitent — leading sinners to despair of obtain- 
ing salvation by the merit of their own works, or by 
their own unaided strivings, be they ever so earnest ; 
stripping them of all their vain excuses, driving them 
from all their refuges of lies, and pointing them to 
the cross of Christ as their only refuge. 

Many of the most successful preachers in winning 
souls to Christ have dwelt much and earnestly upon 
these preparatory topics, as I venture to call them, 
in the commencement of revivals. They are needed, 
they come at the right time. This is the proper place 
for them in the use of the means which God has ap- 
pointed, and I see not how any minister can hope for 
a thorough work of the Lord in the conversion of sin- 
ners, who does not thus begin at the beginning, who 
does not show them the desperate wickedness of their 
hearts, who does not make the law thunder in their 
ears, and uncover the pit of destruction before them. 
This is what Whitefield did; this is what Wesley 
did ; this is what Edwards did ; this is what Bel- 
lamy, and the Tennent's did ; this is what all the most 
successful laborers in revivals have done since their 
day ; and I hazard nothing in saying, that the work 
has been deep and thorough in proportion to the 
thoroughness of the preaching in its earlier stages. 
Sinners must be " shut up to the faith " by the flam- 
ing sword turning every way, before they will despair 
of help from any but an almighty arm. No man, 
however critical his case may be, will send for a 
physician till he believes he is sick, and then the 



328 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

more critical lie regards his condition, the more ready 
will he be to use the remedies which the best medical 
skill can prescribe. So with the sinner ; he is sick 
unto death, but he will never apply to the great Phy- 
sician till he feels that the case is desperate. The 
first thing is to bring him to feel this, and to cry out 
for help. There must be no palliations. His heart 
must be probed to the bottom, and its corruption laid 
bare, so that he may loathe himself in his own sight, 
and smite upon his breast and cry out with the pub- 
lican, " God be merciful to me a sinner." 

In laying so much stress as I have done upon hold- 
ing up the terrors of the law in the beginning of a 
revival, and dwelling mostly for some time upon the 
guilt and danger of impenitence, I do not mean that 
the way of escape from the wrath to come should be 
kept out of sight even then. The voice of mercy 
from Calvary should be heard in the midst of the 
loudest threatenings from Sinai. But Sinai must utter 
its thunders. The careless multitude must be alarmed, 
so as to cry out for help, before they will be ready 
to receive it. While here and there the Lord opens 
the heart of a Lydia at once to receive with joy the 
good news of salvation, this has not been his ordinary 
method. In the language of the old divines, there 
must be " law work " to bring sinners to Christ. The 
experience of Paul in this regard, has been the ex- 
perience of multitudes who have been converted in 
revivals : " I was alive without the law once ; but 
when the commandment came, sin revived, and I 
died." 



THE PASTOR IN A REVIVAL. 329 

THE PASTOR IN A REVIVAL. 

These things being premised, I will suppose, my 
young brother in the ministry, that you and your 
church are now in the midst of a revival, Some are 
asking what they must do to be saved, and others are 
beginning to rejoice in hope. It is a critical time 
with them, and under God much may depend upon the 
means employed. The revival may pervade the con- 
gregation and bring many into the kingdom of Christ, 
or it may be checked at once. Perhaps there never 
was a revival so powerful, but that, to all human 
view, the Spirit might have been quenched, as many 
have been suddenly brought to a stand by unwise and 
indiscreet proceedings. 

I do not profess to have had very large experi- 
ence. Many have oftener seen the salvation of God 
in these blessed times of refreshing than I have, and 
are more capable of giving advice to the inexperi- 
enced; but it has pleased God to afford me a good 
many precious opportunities of witnessing the pres- 
ence and power of the Holy Spirit, in the conviction 
and conversion of sinners. 

In the thoughts which I have to throw out, and 
the advice which I have to offer, I shall give the 
results of my own observation and inquiries, without 
claiming any right to mark out a course for others. 
God has not shut up his ministers and churches to 
any one method. A considerable range is left for the 
choice of means according to times and circumstances. 
In reading a hundred narratives, we might not find 
the same features and stages of progress in any two 
of them. As there are diversities of operation by the 



330 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

same Spirit, so there are diversities of means and 
agencies, which God is pleased to own and bless in 
reviving his work. Our part is to pray, Lord, what 
wilt thou have us to do ? and then to follow the lead- 
ings of his providence and Spirit. 

It will sometimes be found, before the work has 
advanced far, that something lies in the way of its 
progress. It seems to stand stilL Those who have 
been awakened, remain for days just about where 
they were; and there are no new inquirers. This 
ought to alarm the whole church. What is the mat- 
ter ? What hinders the chariot of salvation from roll- 
ing on ? There should be great searchings of heart ; 
and if we could see the hearts of those who have 
been waiting for the salvation of God as he sees 
them, it would probably be found that there is less 
fervent prayer than there was. Christians are in 
danger of taking it for granted, as it were, that when 
God has begun to pour out his Spirit in answer to 
prayer, he will continue to carry on the good work, 
though they should neglect this great duty and privi- 
lege. But for this they have no warrant. Continu- 
ance in prayer, if I may so express it, is the motive 
power, and without which it must come to a stand. 
But however this may be, there is some cause, some 
letting down, some neglect of duty on the part of 
the church, which must be searched out and repent- 
ed of. 

So, again, in the midst of a powerful revival, when 
Christians have been long on their knees with their 
faces bowed in the dust, the impression may be 
stronger than ever, that God not only can, but will 



THE PASTOR IN A REVIVAL. 331 

carry on his work and glorify himself, though their 
prayers should cease 5 or that their supplications 
might now give place to thanksgivings. When this, 
or something like this feeling appears, the church 
should be called together, not to discourage their 
thanksgivings for what God hath wrought, but to 
exhort them at the same time, instead of relaxing, to 
wrestle more earnestly with the Angel of the cove- 
nant. Indeed, judging from what I have witnessed 
in revivals, the church needs to be often called to- 
gether by the pastor, to keep them constantly advised 
of the progress of the work, and of the hinderances 
which threaten to retard it. Without some watch 
like this, suited to the flowing and ebbing of the 
waters of salvation, I see not how the church can be 
expected to preserve a healthful tone of prayer, and 
a vigorous state of action. 

Again, when a revival has lasted for months per- 
haps, and a great harvest is already in the sheaf, 
Christians are apt to feel that it is as large as can 
be expected in one season, and in this way to limit, 
as it were, the Holy One of Israel. From what I 
have seen in revivals, I am satisfied that this is a 
common case. The impression on many minds is 
something like this : The blessing has already been 
larger than we could have hoped for, considering our 
infinite unworthiness, and we regard it as a rich ear- 
nest of what God will do for us, when he shall be 
pleased to come and revive us again; but we must 
wait. This may never be uttered, but such is the 
feeling — "We must wait God's time for the conver- 
sion of the many who are left." In this way I fear 



332 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

Satan often gets an advantage of the church, which 
he could not gain in any other. I look upon it as 
one of his stratagems, because I believe he is never 
so busy as in revivals, and because I find nothing in 
the Bible to warrant the impression that the work in 
progress must needs cease, so long as there are sin- 
ners to be brought in, but that, " contrary wise," there 
is much encouragement to pray and work on. 

When the prophet Elisha directed the king of 
Israel to take arrows and smite upon the ground, he 
smote thrice and stayed. Whereupon the prophet 
was angry, and sharply chided him: "Thou should- 
est have smitten five or six times ; then hadst thou 
smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it; whereas 
thou shalt now smite Syria but thrice." Final deliv- 
erance from the invasions of that powerful enemy of 
Israel was forfeited by stopping short when there was 
nothing to hinder. So in a revival, what is there 
but the want of faith and perseverance, to hinder the 
conversion of all who are brought under its influence? 
A hundred, perhaps, have been born again. It is 
certainly a great and glorious work ; but why should 
it cease, when hundreds are still impenitent and ready 
to perish ? Is the Lord's hand shortened, that it can- 
not save any more ? Is his ear heavy, that he cannot 
any longer hear? Dear brethren, are you straitened 
in him? Is it not wholly in your own bowels? You 
say you desire the salvation of every soul ; and if so, 
why not still use the means that have been so signal- 
ly blessed ? Why wait for another revival ? If you 
forfeit your privilege in this, are you sure that you 
shall ever see another? And if another should be 



THE PASTOR IN A REVIVAL. 333 

enjoyed in a few years, will all who are yet uncon- 
verted live till that time? 

You will say, perhaps, that in no place has the 
whole impenitent population ever been converted in a 
single revival. And what then? Does it prove that 
this never can be? that it never will be? As the 
millennium approaches, we may expect to see greater 
things than have yet been witnessed. If we are 
warranted to pray for the outpouring of the Spirit at 
all, we have the same warrant to pray for the con- 
version of many as for few. As there is no respect 
of persons with God, so there is no limitation to the 
promises, "Ask, and ye shall receive;" "Open your 
mouth wide, and I will fill it ;" " If ye shall ask any 
thing in my name, I will do it " — " any thing. 11 
"How large the promise, how divine!" 

It would certainly be very remarkable if God 
were to convert all in a great revival. But that he 
can, if he pleases, no praying person can doubt. 
There seems to have been something very much like 
it, in the apostolic age. Thus we read, that when 
Peter passed throughout all quarters, " all that dwelt 
in Lydda and Saron turned unto the Lord." And 
in our own times, we have heard of revivals, if we 
have not witnessed them, in some of our higher 
seminaries, of the same comprehensiveness. So it is 
not very uncommon for whole families to be taken at 
once. Dear brethren, "be not faithless, but believ- 
ing." Pray without ceasing. Do not let the Angel 
of the covenant go till you have prevailed for the 
largest blessings which he has to bestow. The fact 
that you have already seen the salvation of God be- 



334 REyiVAL MANUAL. 

yond all that you dared to hope for, that greater 
numbers, it may be, have been converted than in any 
former revival, is so far from affording any reason 
for relaxing in prayer and efforts for the immediate 
conversion of those who are left, that the larger the 
gift received, the greater the encouragement to ask 
for more. 

It were easy to bring many illustrations bearing 
on the point that the church ought never to be satis- 
fied so long as any remain outside of the ark, hourly 
exposed to be swallowed up by the rising deluge. 

If your neighbor's house was on fire, and the fam- 
ily were all fast asleep, or if they had been waked in 
time to escape, and some of them had been already 
rescued from the flames while others were still left, 
what would you do? Would you say, we have al- 
ready saved more than we expected, and so relax 
your efforts to save the rest ? No. You would if 
possible increase them, and never give over till the 
last child was snatched from the devouring element. 
And will you cease to pray for those who are still 
exposed to everlasting fire, because so many have 
been plucked as brands from the burning? 

In a terrible storm, such as often happens on our 
seaboard, a vessel is driven upon the breakers, and 
becomes a hopeless wreck. The crew and the pas- 
sengers are seen from the shore clinging to the 
shrouds, and ready to be swallowed up. What is 
to be done? The life-boat is launched. Struggling 
through the roaring surf, and almost swamped, she 
reaches the wreck. There are a hundred to be saved, 
and she can take only ten. Again and again she 



THE PASTOR IN A REVIVAL. 335 

returns, till more than half the number are landed 
safe on the shore. But what is to become of the 
rest? Will the hardy boatmen say, "We have saved 
many more than we expected when we saw the dan- 
ger. The winds and waves are more and more appall- 
ing. It is night-fall, which increases the danger of 
further efforts. We will go home, thankful for what 
we have been able to do, and return early in the 
morning, hoping to find the sea calmer, and then we 
will bring the rest ashore." Impossible! It would 
not be safe for any man to hint such inhumanity to 
the most hardened sailor. And can you, dear Chris- 
tian friends, sit down and rest satisfied for the pres- 
ent with the rescue of less than half of your friends 
and neighbors who were ready to perish, when, by 
your own acknowledgment, those who are left are in 
equal danger? 

But I have not room for enlargement here. I am 
not so vain as to feel sure that the course of preach- 
ing which I have sketched and recommended before 
a revival, and in the early stages of it, is better than 
some other, when there is so much room for consult- 
ing times and circumstances. What I have said is 
chiefly drawn from my own experience and observa- 
tion in revivals. It may or may not accord with the 
larger experience of others. Let it stand upon its 
own merits, nothing more. 

It can hardly be necessary to add, that no wise 
master-builder will indulge the idea that by laboring 
for a revival in season and out of season, and bring- 
ing many converts into the church, they and the older 



336 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

members will need little more of his help to " build 
them up as lively stones, a spiritual house, a holy 
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable 
to God by Jesus Christ.' 7 It is just here, if I mistake 
not, that some excellent pastors are in danger of los- 
ing half the fruits of their labors in sowing and reap- 
ing, and shouting the harvest home. Believing that 
all who are born again will be kept by the power of 
God through faith unto salvation, they seem to for- 
get that all who have lately been converted, however 
well instructed and established in other things, are 
but babes in Christ, and need the sincere milk of the 
word, that they may grow thereby till they become 
strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. 

Those more especially who, till the revival, and 
perhaps till it was far advanced, had paid no attention 
to religion, and are brought in suddenly, as in these 
days many are, have almost every thing to learn of 
its doctrines, of its evidences, and of its claims. Be- 
ing just brought into the school of Christ, now is the 
time to teach them, till they are rooted and grounded 
in the faith. Now they will learn faster than at any 
other period of their discipleship, and to this end 
they will require more teaching. 

Some ministers, in their great zeal for the imme- 
diate conversion of sinners, think it their duty to 
preach and exhort at all times just as they do in the 
midst of a revival, and feel as if they were doing very 
little good, if they do not see the immediate fruit of 
their labors in bringing sinners to Christ. Doubtless 
they cannot be too anxious to have them brought in. 
But they have work to do in the church, as well as 



THE PASTOR IN A REVIVAL. 33t 

out of it. By pressing too hard after a glorious revi- 
val, and without giving the church any time to re- 
cover from the physical and mental exhaustion which 
is likely to supervene, they are in danger not only of 
increasing the exhaustion, but wearing out their own 
remaining strength and religious susceptibilities with 
little or no profit. Mr. Nettle ton used to say, that 
if he was a settled pastor, he would not always be 
preaching what would be distinctly regarded as revi- 
val sermons, as it might disgust and harden sinners, 
rather than convert them; and I believe he was 
right. 

Suppose there should be an interval of even four 
or five years between two revivals, would the pastor 
have reason to mourn that he was all that time labor- 
ing in vain, and spending his strength for naught? 
By no means. If he is doing the work of the Lord 
faithfully during that interval, he may be eminently 
useful. The husbandman is not always employed in 
gathering in his harvests. When one is over, he pre- 
pares his grounds for another. He sows for a new 
crop, though he may not expect it to take root and 
spring up at once. So the spiritual husbandman, who 
" goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall 
doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his 
sheaves with him." 

The interval is preeminently the time for study, 
for imparting solid instruction, for preaching all the 
fundamental doctrines, for convincing and confound- 
ing gainsayers, and for building up a stable, thorough- 
ly educated church, upon " the foundation of the apos- 
tles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief 

Rev. Sketches. 15 



338 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

corner-stone." It is just here that some ardent and 
excellent ministers mistake. They exhort more and 
better than they teach. When there is no revival, 
they do so little to prepare for one by raising the 
standard of piety and training up prominent mem- 
bers for active service, that they derive not half the 
assistance from them in prayer-meetings, Sabbath- 
schools, and by other lay helpfulness, that they might 
have done by thorough training. And owing to this 
neglect, when trouble arises they have not half so 
many strong men to lean upon as they might have 
had. 

I am persuaded that a pastor will be most and 
oftenest blessed with genuine revivals, who, relying 
upon divine aid, does most to prepare his church for 
them by thorough doctrinal and practical preaching 
in the intervals. He will have a stronger and purer 
church than it is possible to build up without a great 
deal of teaching, as well after the converts are re- 
ceived into the church as before. 

WHERE A REVIVAL HAS JUST COMMENCED. 

" And he did not many mighty works there, be- 
cause of their unbelief." Jesus Christ had come to 
Nazareth, and showed the deep interest which he felt 
in their highest welfare by teaching in their syn- 
agogues, and healing a few of their sick. From what 
they saw and heard, they could not dispute that his 
motives were kind, that he had both the will and the 
power to do them good. But they were not ready 
to receive him. He had been brought up among 
them as the son of a poor carpenter, one of their 



REVIVAL JUST COMMENCED. 339 

neighbors. Whence then, they said, hath this man 
this wisdom, and these mighty works ? and they were 
offended in him. He was to them as " a root out of 
a dry ground ;•" he had " no form nor comeliness " in 
their eyes ; " when they saw him, there was no beauty 
that they should desire him." He had already by his 
miraculous power healed some of their sick, and was 
ready to heal them all; but no, he was the carpenter's 
son, and who gave him this power ? As Jesus Christ 
never staid where he was not wanted, he left them, 
and it does not appear that he ever returned. It was 
not their unworthiness that cut off his kindred from 
the blessings which he had to bestow without money 
and without price ; it was their rejection of him. 
" He did not many mighty works there, because of 
their unbelief." He departed out of their coasts. If 
any whom he would have healed were mortally sick, 
he left them to die. 

So it is now in times and places of special revival. 
Jesus Christ by his Spirit comes into a church and 
congregation, and shows his presence and power by 
healing here and there a sin-sick soul ; or in other 
words, awakening and converting a few individuals. 
In this beginning of miracles of grace, he manifests 
his readiness to heal all who apply to him, trusting 
in his ability and readiness to save. 

Are the churches whom he thus condescends to 
visit, always ready to welcome him, and urge him to 
remain with them as long as he can ? If so, what is 
the reason that sometimes, when a revival has com- 
menced and there have been a few conversions, he 
departs and the work ceases? Such cases, alas, are 



840 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

but too frequent. Ah, he does not do many mighty 
works there, "because of their unbelief." This is the 
sole reason. 

What then is this unbelief, that cuts them off? It 
must be a criminal distrust of his power, or his prom- 
ises. Nothing is wanting but that faith which takes 
hold of the promises by earnest persevering prayer 
to retain him. It can never be true, that any in- 
cipient revival ceases after a very few have been 
awakened and brought in, where the church is on 
her knees pleading with the Saviour to stay and mul- 
tiply the trophies of his victorious grace. She must 
take the blame to herself, if he leaves her families 
and neighbors unconverted. 

And now, dear friends, what is our present con- 
dition in this place ? After a long absence, in which 
the ways of Zion have mourned, and all have been 
ready to die, Jesus of Nazareth has returned, and be- 
gun his mighty works among us. Here and there a 
sinner is asking, What must I do to be saved? A 
few, we hope, have been born again ; but what are 
they among so many? Scores, hundreds lie in the 
same perishing condition. What will you do ? Will 
you treat him as his town-people did, and send him 
away ; or will you constrain him by your prayers to 
remain, and come into your houses and visit all your 
neighborhoods, and cast out all the evil spirits, and 
heal all the sick, constraining you to stand still and 
to exclaim, What hath God wrought ! 

The state of things with us is beyond expression 
critical. Now Christ has come, and you see what he 
can do. He has quickened some who were dead in 



REVIVAL JUST COMMENCED. 34 1 

trespasses and sins. But the work seems to be at a 
stand, and where is our faith? There are but few, 
if any new cases of inquiry. Things cannot long re- 
main as they are. It is an awful crisis. The revival 
must receive a new impulse, or soon cease. Mani- 
festly Christ is ready to depart, and shall we let him 
go while so much remains to be done; while of all 
the multitude who are sick unto death, only here and 
there one has been healed? Shall we let him go? 
Let us fall down before him, and plead his great and 
precious promises. Would he have visited us as he 
has, if he had not more blessings in store, and was 
not ready to bestow them ? When he thus visits any 
place, and begins to do his mighty works, there is 
one obstacle to his leaving suddenly which he never 
breaks over, and that is, " We will not let thee go 
except thou bless us." Such importunity always pre- 
vails. It will with us, if we wrestle as Jacob did. 
Nothing but unbelief can stop the revival where 
it is. 

brethren, will you grieve the Holy Spirit to 
depart ; will you send the blessed Saviour away, 
leaving so many to perish whom he is ready to save ? 
for not to persuade him to prolong his visit, when he 
is waiting to be gracious, is virtually sending him 
away. "And he could there do no mighty works, 
save that he laid his hands on a few sick folk, and 
healed them. And he marvelled at their unbelief." 
So here, if he departs, he will leave the great body 
of the sick, with the most terrible of all diseases, 
" drawn unto death." How many have we reason to 
fear have died the second death since he last came 



342 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

among us. ik.s he never went back to Nazareth, who 
can tell, if he leaves as now, whether he will ever 
return? And if he should, years hence, how many 
of those whom he came to cure will then be in their 
graves, and beyond the reach of salvation. 

Mr. Nettleton, writing to a brother in the minis- 
try in 1823, says, "A revival begun, is likely to sub- 
side without the constant pressure of gospel motives 
on the consciences of the awakened. It is obvious 
from experience that God generally blesses far more 
extensively the means for extending his work, than 
he does for commencing it in the midst of surround- 
ing darkness. As the conversion of one sinner is 
often the means of awakening a whole family, and the 
impulse is again felt through every kindred branch, 
and through the village and town, so one town may 
be the means of revival in another, and that in an- 
other. There is as really a season of harvest in the 
moral, as in the natural world. Neglected a few 
days, the harvest fully ripe is lost for ever. 

" So there is a crisis in the feelings of a people, 
which, if not improved, the souls of that generation 
will not be gathered. In the season of a revival, 
more may be done, more often is done to secure the 
salvation of souls in a few days or weeks, than in 
years at other times. One sermon often does more 
execution in a revival than a hundred out of it. And 
I verily believe that more good may be lost for the 
want of that one, than can be done with it, and with 
a thousand like it, when the crisis is past. ' Say not 
ye, there are yet four months, and then 7 — it is now, or 



INQUIRY MEETINGS. 343 

With these views, so far as niy own observation 
and experience have gone, I fully concur. 

INQUIRY MEETINGS. 

Among the means which God has signally blessed 
in carrying forward revivals of religion, meetings for 
personal conversation with the awakened are found 
to hold an important place. These meetings are by 
common consent called Inquiry meetings, in distinc- 
tion from all others — a better name, I think, could 
not be given them. And in the progress of a power- 
ful revival, when large numbers are in the several 
stages of alarm and inquiry, they are so essential, 
that no pastor who would make the most of his 
strength, can dispense with them. 

When they were first introduced among the means 
which God has been pleaded to own in the glorious 
"times of refreshing from his presence," I do not 
know. Where the Lord has poured out his Spirit, 
good ministers have always encouraged inquirers to 
come to them for personal conversation and advice, 
either singly or several together ; but where a great 
many awakened sinners have needed their attention 
at the same time, they have found it impossible to 
meet them all, and say even a few words to them at 
the critical stages of their need of instruction — per- 
haps the turning-point of their immortal destiny. The 
question was, Can any thing be done to bring all the 
inquirers within our reach, so that in a single hour 
we may learn the state of fifty or a hundred anxious 
souls, that demand our immediate attention? At this 
critical point, God put it into the heart of somebody, 



344 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

no matter who or where, to invite all who were anx- 
ious to meet their pastor at a given time and place. 
It was found that in this way the desired object 
might be accomplished without taking time which 
could not be spared from other duties that always 
press hard during a revival. In the great revivals 
at the beginning of the present century, I neither saw 
nor heard of such inquiry meetings as we are all now 
familiar with. Indeed, my first acquaintance with 
them was about 1817, it might be a little earlier, 
when Mr. Nettleton was in the midst of his remarka- 
ble career, going from place to place in the shining 
armor of his mission, "the Lord working mightily 
with him," wherever he went. He held inquiry meet- 
ings, (anxious meetings as he called them,) and felt 
that in the midst of a large revival he could not do 
without them. Other highly favored servants of the 
Lord, ever since his day, have felt so ; and such in- 
quiry meetings as he held are now almost as firmly 
established, where God pours out his Spirit, as special 
meetings for prayer. 

Rightly conducted, they afford the best possible 
criterion of the actual stage of the revival, in a large 
and scattered population. Such a meeting brings in- 
quirers of all classes and from all quarters together, 
enabling the pastor to feel the pulse, as it were, of 
the whole vital action, and to judge what instruction 
from the pulpit and lecture-room is most needed — 
whether the work is advancing, or at a stand, or 
declining, that he may "give to every one his portion 
in due season." In an outpouring of the Spirit, such 
changes often take place in a few days, that I see not 



INQUIRY MEETINGS. 345 

how a pastor can adapt his discourses to the existing 
state of his flock, without a general inquiry meeting 
at least once a week, to guide him. In that room, he 
learns more in half an hour than he could, perhaps, 
were he to spend his whole time with individuals as 
he might meet them elsewhere. 

It is obvious at the same time, that the helpfulness 
of inquiry-meetings will depend very much upon how 
they are commenced, and the manner in which they 
are conducted. Ministers are sometimes quite at a 
loss whether there is interest enough in the congrega- 
tion to respond to such an invitation. If there is 
not, it might prove a hinderance rather than a quick- 
ener towards a revival. If with a vague impression 
that the way is prepared for such a movement in ad- 
vance, a pastor were publicly to give out an appoint- 
ment and nobody should come, the enemy might take 
advantage of it, and turn it to the prejudice of relig- 
ion. In pastoral visits the state of individual minds 
may be so far learned as to guide the pastor aright. 
Publicly inviting any who may wish for religious 
conversation to call at the pastor's house or study, is 
quite a different thing, as it involves no responsibility 
with regard to the signs of the times. 

The next question is, When an inquiry meeting is 
appointed, who should be invited? Not all the con- 
gregation of course. It is a meeting for inquirers, for 
those who feel some concern for their souls ; not for 
those who feel no anxiety, whether old or young. I 
need not say that a great deal depends upon the so- 
lemnity of the meeting. If you make the invitation so 
broad, that those who are in no degree awakened 

15* 



346 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

may come in, and they choose to come, it will be like- 
ly to affect injuriously the real inquirers, especially if 
their concern is not very deep; very much as bring- 
ing a cold body into near contact with substances but 
moderately warm, would tend to cool them down to 
the freezing point, rather than to melt the ice. The 
careless, in times of revival, are by no means to be 
neglected ; but the inquiry room is not the place to 
meet them. 

I was once invited by a brother, to go into an 
inquiry meeting and assist him. I went, and found a 
large room full. There had been a powerful revival 
in his congregation. In this case, hoping to reach 
some who had stood aloof, he had made the invitation 
very broad. I noticed at once the absence of that 
pervading solemnity which I had been accustomed to 
witness in such meetings • and when I came to pass 
along from seat to seat, and converse with individu- 
als, I found nearly as many who gave no evidence of 
religious concern, as of the anxious ; and I was con- 
vinced that while the former class were not likely 
to derive much advantage from being there, their 
presence was chilling and injurious to the latter. 
So I think, constituted as the human mind is, it must 
be in every case. The aphorism, " Old Adam is too 
strong for young Melancthon," applies here in an im- 
portant sense. In sympathetic influences which come 
in conflict, the colder will be almost sure to prevail 
over the warmer. 

The two great objects of an inquiry meeting are, 
to ascertain the actual state of the revival, and in a 
very few words, to drop into the ear of the inquirer 



INQUIRY MEETINGS. 347 

such advice as seems to be wanted at the moment. 
Where the number is large, there is no time for ex- 
tended conversation ; but as he passes round, the pas- 
tor will ascertain where it is needed, and will reserve 
such cases for personal interviews elsewhere. The 
meeting should always be opened with a short prayer, 
and all should be requested to kneel. Some may re- 
gard the posture as a matter of very little conse- 
quence ; but it is " much every way. 77 It brings down 
stiff knees, that perhaps have never kneeled before ; 
begets a sacred awe and reverence which pertains to 
no other posture ; and no other posture should be en- 
couraged at such a meeting, where there is room to 
kneel. A few words may or may not follow the 
prayer. Then it should be understood by the inquir- 
ers, that they must have no communication whatever 
with each other in the meeting ; but that they must 
" commune with their own hearts, and be still. 77 In 
passing round, the minister may either speak to each 
individual, in a voice not so low but that those who 
sit next can hear at least a part of what is said, or 
lower it down to a whisper, so that the individual 
alone can hear. I have witnessed both methods in 
the inquiry room, and am decidedly in favor of the 
latter. The former diverts the attention of those who 
sit by, from their own alarming state, and leads to a 
comparison of feelings, which in my judgment should 
always and everywhere be discouraged, where the 
great question is, "What must /do to be saved? 77 

In passing from seat to seat, a few words suggest- 
ed by the state in which he finds an inquirer, may be 
usefully addressed by the pastor to all assembled, 



348 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

two or three times perhaps before he gets through, 
closing the meeting with a short address and short 
prayer. 

Experience proves, I think, that these meetings 
should not be very protracted ; and that they should 
never be continued to unseasonable hours. Where 
the congregation is large, some of them may be held 
in the remote districts ; but it is preferable, in gen- 
eral, to hold them in the centre, and to bring the in- 
quirers together from all parts. It makes them ac- 
quainted with one another, and helps to bind them 
together in a common brotherhood. The room should 
not be much larger than comfortably to seat as many 
as may be expected to come. However it may be 
accounted for, the fact is unquestionable, that there 
will be greater solemnity in a small room well filled, 
than in a large one where many of the seats are 
empty. 

How often such meetings should be held, depends 
on the state of the revival — as often as once a week, 
at least, when it is at its height, and generally early 
in the week, so as to take advantage of whatever im- 
pression may have been made by the preaching of the 
word, and other religious meetings on the Sabbath. 

The pastor, when there are a great many inquir- 
ers, may feel that he needs help, and if such assist- 
ance can be had as dealing with anxious souls re- 
quires, let it be called in. Every minister of the gos- 
pel ought to be qualified to take part with his brother 
in this labor of love, but hardly any one is, till he 
has had some experience himself in revivals. It re- 
quires a knowledge of the workings and subterfuges 



CONVERSING WITH INQUIRERS. 349 

of the human heart, in all the stages of awakening 
and conviction up to the last struggle, and a quick- 
ness of apprehension of the real state of things, which 
must be acquired before they can be exercised. When 
ministerial aid of the right kind cannot be had, per- 
haps some lay brother may be found, and called in 
and help. But it is not speaking disparagingly of 
intelligent members of the churches to say, that very 
few of them are qualified for this kind of service. 
They have not had the experience which it requires. 
They can be exceedingly helpful in many ways, but 
not in this. But I will not enlarge. 

The foregoing remarks and suggestions are chief- 
ly the result of my own experience and observation. 
Others may be better guides when and where inquiry 
meetings should be held in revivals, and how they 
should be conducted. If so, I hope they will be fol- 
lowed. So far as I know, these meetings are a step 
in advance of the aids which pastors had learned how 
to avail themselves of, half a century ago. If any 
improvements can be made, or any thing better sub- 
stituted, I will bless God for putting it into the 
hearts of his ministers. 

CONVERSING WITH THE AWAKENED AND THE 
UNAWAKENED IN REVIVALS. 

There is much to be said by the pastor, and by 
others outside of the inquiry room ; and very much 
depends upon who shall say it. "A word fitly spoken 
is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Every 
member of the church has something to do to help 
forward the work. We are all, or should be, labor- 



350 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

ers together with God. There is no one but can 
speak a word in season to somebody. The plea so 
often made, " I can't do any thing, I am not capable 
of talking with any body," will not hold. You can 
say something. " Out of the abundance of the heart 
the mouth speaketh ;" and God will hold you account- 
able for what you have, for what you can do and say, 
whether it be much or little. 

It is true, indeed, there may be few members of 
a church who are capable of conversing with sin- 
ners in all the stages of awakening and inquiry. It 
requires more knowledge, discrimination, and experi- 
ence than some of the most devoted Christians pos- 
sess. There are cases where a few words of wrong 
instruction or advice might " heal the hurt slightly/ 7 
might quiet the sinner's conscience with a false hope ; 
or on the other hand, drive him almost or quite to 
despair. But every one is capable of saying some- 
thing to friends who remain unalarmed in the midst 
of a revival, or who are not much interested — some- 
thing which by God's blessing may prove the means 
of their salvation. If you cannot go abroad, if you 
cannot exhort your neighbors, you can at least speak 
to the unawakened in your own households, and urge 
them to seek the Lord while he may be found, and 
call upon him while he is near. ^ Talents and learn- 
ing are not at all essential, so far as this. What is 
wanted is a warm heart, a yearning of soul which 
can take no denial. Those who would not dare to 
talk with inquirers, for fear of doing hurt, can go out 
into the highways and hedges x where they will find 
ample room for earnest exhortation, and may perhaps 



CONVERSING WITH INQUIRERS. 351 

do as much to increase the number of inquirers and 
converts by bringing in those who would otherwise 
never come to the gospel feast, as if they could guide 
inquiring souls to the cross. 

It will not be denied, that in the progress of a 
revival, all impenitent persons belonging to the con- 
gregation, or to whom access can be gained, ought 
to be spoken to and exhorted to avail themselves 
of the accepted time, and the day of salvation. But 
there must first be a preparation of heart for this 
service, before much good influence can be expected 
from it. No member of the church, however gifted, 
is in a condition to urge sinners to flee from the 
wrath to come, till his own heart glows with love 
and compassion. His conscience may constrain him 
to attempt the duty while he himself is not awakened, 
but remains in a cold backsliding state ; he may force 
himself to speak to his neighbors, but they will see at 
once that it does not come warm from his heart, and 
may be rather repelled than persuaded by any thing 
he can say. The Psalmist deeply felt the necessity 
of a penitent, heart preparation for this duty, when 
he prayed, " Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, 
and uphold me by thy free Spirit ; then will I teach 
transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be convert- 
ed unto thee." And no one can be in a right frame 
to discharge this duty, till the joy of G-od's salvation 
is restored to his own soul. But beware, my brother, 
how you try to excuse yourself by pleading your own 
coldness and spiritual leanness. It will not do. The 
Searcher of hearts will not accept it. So far from its 
being a good excuse, it is your own fault, and you 



352 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

will be held accountable for the neglect. Offer no 
such plea. You bring yourself in guilty when you 
say that you are not in a right state of mind to talk 
with careless sinners, and persuade them to come in. 
It is pleading a great sin as an excuse for shrinking 
from an important duty. Every professor of religion 
ought always to be in such a frame as to converse 
freely with those who are living without hope and 
without God in the world ; and how much more, when 
he is pouring out his Spirit, and the kingdom of God 
is brought so nigh to those who are ready to perish. 

I have already said that it requires much judg- 
ment and experience to converse with awakened sin- 
ners, and lead them to Christ. But few, compared 
with the whole number in a church, are likely to pos- 
sess these qualifications. So that while all the mem- 
bers may try to alarm the stupid, and ought to do it 
to the extent of their ability, the majority cannot be 
safely advised to go much further in the time of a 
revival. When they find cases of real awakening, 
they should report them at once to the pastor, or to 
some one of his efficient helpers, that they may receive 
such instruction and guidance as they need. A judi- 
cious pastor will generally know who can be trusted 
to talk with persons asking what they must do to be 
saved, and he will feel it his duty to discourage 
others from venturing beyond their depth as guides, 
where mistakes might be fatal. 

In all ordinary cases, the most competent mem- 
bers of the church, in dealing with souls during the 
critical period between their being awakened and 
converted, ought to act under the advice and direc- 



CONVERSING WITH INQUIRERS. 353 

tion of the pastor, and to keep him fully informed, 
from day to day, of the progress of the work as it 
falls under this vigilant observation; and to report 
all difficult cases to him, that they may be promptly 
attended to. And to aid them in the discharge of 
their personal duties in laboring to win souls to 
Christ, a pastor experienced in revivals will call 
them together as occasion may require, to hear their 
reports, and in free conversation give them the re- 
sults of his experience to aid them in the work. 

If any one should ask how often the awakened 
ought to be conversed with, no definite answer can 
be given. It must depend upon constantly shifting 
circumstances. It should be often enough to mark 
their progress step by step, and to sound the alarm 
at once if they show signs of drawing back. But 
there is such a thing as saying too much to an awa- 
kened sinner, especially when he has come to the 
turning-point — when his vain excuses have all been 
taken from him, and he sees clearly that he ought to 
hold out no longer. Then it is better to stand out 
of the way, and leave him to settle the controversy 
with God, than to say much more to him. He may 
come to you in great distress, asking what he shall 
do to be saved, and keep coming after you have told 
him a great many times, till you see he is leaning 
upon you when he ought to cast himself at once 
upon the mercy of God in Christ. I have known 
such cases. I believe they occur in almost every re- 
vival. And then, "I can't help you. You have been 
lingering much too long; I have nothing more to 
say. You must go to the cross at once ; there is no 



354 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

help for you till you get there," is more likely to 
bring him to a decision, than any thing more you 
could say. A young man who had been religiously 
educated, whose attention was called up in a power- 
ful revival in college, and with whom I had often 
conversed, sent for me late one evening, urging me 
to come and see him, for he was on the very bor- 
ders of despair. I had conversed with him that very 
day, and knew that he was in great distress. It 
seemed cruel to refuse. But I sent him word, " I 
can do you no good. In the stubbornness of your 
heart you are holding out against God. There is 
but one hope left for you, which you know just as 
well as I could tell you. You must yield yourself to 
God, or you are lost for ever." It was hoped he gave 
himself to Christ before morning, which it is very 
doubtful whether he would have done, had I gone to 
see him. It is far more likely that I' should have 
stood in the way. And so I believe it often happens. 
The convicted sinner often lingers, or rather holds 
out, as long as he can find anybody to lean upon. It 
is sometimes as much our duty to be silent and stand 
out of the way, as at others to warn the same persons 
to flee from the wrath to come. "He that winneth 
souls is wise." 

And here let me add, those who are active in a 
revival should have a mutual understanding, so that 
too many shall not converse with the same person on 
the same day. 'While the impenitent ought by no 
means to be neglected when God is pouring out his 
Spirit, there is some danger of repelling them by the 
importunity of too many brethren following in quick 



CONVERSING WITH INQUIRERS. 355 

succession. It is better to agree upon a division of 
labor, so that while none shall be neglected, none 
shall have reason to complain that when they are 
willing to be conversed with, too many come at once. 

One thing further. In' looking over any church 
and congregation, it will be found that wisdom is 
profitable to direct who can approach this and that 
individual to the best advantage. This depends on a 
great variety of relations and circumstances. There 
should be a consultation something like this : There 
are many in the congregation who are not much if at 
all interested, who ought to be conversed with and 
brought in if possible; and who shall do it? Such 
a man is prejudiced against me, but he is your friend. 
I cannot approach him, but you can. To another, A 
has been your intimate companion. He has confi- 
dence in you, he will hear you when he might repulse 
anybody else. To another, B can be approached bet- 
ter by you than by any of us ; you see him every 
day, and your personal relations are such that you 
can talk with him and be more likely to influence 
him ; and so on down to the end of the alphabet. 

In how many things are the children of this world 
wiser than the children of light. When they have a 
favorite object to accomplish, requiring widely ex- 
tended cooperation, with what skill do they avail 
themselves of the social principle, and with what suc- 
cess. Let all the members of a church be as much in 
earnest, and act as wisely ; let them consider, in every 
stage of a revival, what there is to be done to win 
souls to Christ, and who can do it best ; let there be 
no shrinking, after due consultation, from any assign- 



356 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

ed duty towards those who are yet to be reached and 
brought in ; and who can doubt that God would own 
and bless such a judicious division of labor ? 

INSTRUCTION TO CANDIDATES FOR MEMBER- 
SHIP. 

It is commonly the case that sooner or later, in 
the progress of a revival, or after its close, most of 
the converts are received into the church together. 
They are of different ages and classes, and do not all 
need the same amount of religious instruction to pre- 
pare them for membership. Some understand the 
scriptural qualifications for membership much better 
than others ; but none who offer themselves as candi- 
dates, are so well prepared as not to be profited by 
still further instruction, if judiciously given and right- 
ly received. Next in importance, after giving the 
heart to God, is an intelligent public profession ; and 
no one can safely take this step without knowing 
what are the evidences of a saving change, and bring- 
ing his hope to the test of these evidences, as laid 
down in the word of God. A good deal of this 
teaching, I take it for granted, will be given to in- 
dividuals in the pastor's study, and from the pulpit ; 
but something more is wanted, which can better be 
given in meetings of the candidates, called for the 
express purpose. Such meetings save a great deal of 
the pastor's time, for so far as the instruction is con- 
cerned, he can as well give it to twenty or fifty, 
assembled for that express purpose, as to an individ- 
ual; and it is even more likely to be remembered. 
Such topics as the following might naturally be sug- 
gested at these meetings. 



CANDIDATES FOR MEMBERSHIP. 351 

T/ie evidences of true saving conversion, what are 
they? In answering this question, it is necessary 
to go into the subject largely, guided solely by the 
Scriptures; to point out these "signs," as President 
Edwards calls them, distinctly, and then to exhort 
the candidates to examine themselves by these signs, 
whether they are in the faith. Have you comforta- 
ble evidence that Christ is formed in you the hope of 
glory ? If not, wait, search the Scriptures, and give 
yourselves to prayer, till you have such evidence. 
Christ welcomes none but true disciples to his table. 
"Eat, friends; drink abundantly, beloved" 

It is well also to take up the confession of faith, 
and explain it to the candidates in the most familiar 
way, so that they may understand what is the doc- 
trinal standard of the church to which they must give 
their assent. Neglect here has often occasioned much 
future trouble and perplexity. No member of a church 
should ever have it in his power to say, " The con- 
fession of faith was never explained to me before I 
joined the church. There are some things in it which 
I do not believe ; and if I had known how they were 
understood by the church, I should not have come in. 
I should have offered myself elsewhere, and unless 
they can be altered, I must leave the church." 

Now, if in such meetings as I am recommending, 
the meaning of every article as understood by the 
church, had been taken up and clearly explained, no 
such plea could have been offered ; or if it had been, 
the answer would be, "If you misunderstood our 
creed it was your own fault, not ours. Great pains 
were taken to explain it, in meeting after meeting, 



358 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

held for that very purpose. Then was the time to 
object if ever. There was no compulsion or con- 
straint. After hearing a full explanation of our doc- 
trinal platform, it was left entirely at your option 
whether to join our church or not. Every one ought 
to know what he believes, before he puts his hand to 
any confession of faith. We have done all we could 
to aid you." 

It is desirable fully to explain the covenant engage- 
ments which are assumed. It is to be feared, that a 
great many persons stand up before God, angels, and 
men, without any just sense of the solemn obligations 
which they take upon themselves. It has often been 
found useful, in meetings held for the purpose, to take 
up and distinctly present these obligations ; and let 
all be warned not to proceed without a full and de- 
liberate intention, trusting in God's help, to "stand 
to the covenant." 

How many meetings with the converts it may re- 
quire to go over all the ground embraced in these 
recommendations, cannot beforehand be determined. 
Let time enough be taken to do them ample justice. 
Besides the duty of helping the candidates to make 
a good and well-considered profession of their faith 
in Christ, they are in a better state of mind to re- 
ceive and be profited by such a course of instruction 
and advice, than they will be at any future time. Too 
much pains cannot be taken to have them " rooted 
and grounded" in the truth, that they may adorn 
their profession in all holy conversation and god- 
liness. With any thing short of such a course as 
above indicated, I have not been able to satisfy my- 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 359 

self at the close of revivals, where the responsibil- 
ity rested upon me, and I am persuaded that in let- 
ting such favorable opportunities pass unimproved, 
some ministers forego advantages for building up 
their churches in the faith and order of the gospel, 
which with so little labor they hardly ever enjoy. 

If the converts follow on to know the Lord, and 
add strength as well as numbers to the church by 
an active and blameless Christian life, it is the best 
evidence of the genuineness of their conversion. But 
if, on the other hand, in a few weeks or months after 
the work has ceased, those who were counted as con- 
verts relapse into their former state, and bring forth 
no fruit, it will be an evidence that the work was 
superficial and not genuine, however it may have been 
regarded at the time. By faithful instruction, as above 
indicated, let the pastor and the officers of the church 
clear themselves from blame, if any should come to 
the supper without the wedding garment. 

TO PERSONS ABOUT TO JOIN THE CHURCH 
AFTER A REYIVAL. 

My dear Friends — You have expressed a desire 
to make a public profession of your faith in Christ, 
and to be received into his church. It is well. It is 
an unspeakable privilege. It is the duty of every 
true disciple to put on the badge of discipleship, to 
avail himself of all church privileges, and to witness 
a good profession before the world. It is a great 
step which should not be hastily taken, and yet it 
ought not to be very long delayed by any who have 
a comfortable hope that they have been born again. 



360 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

But "let a man examine himself, and so let him eat 
of that bread and drink of that cup." You have been 
examined and approved by the pastor and officers of 
the church. From your own lips they have sought 
to obtain evidence that you have passed from death 
unto life. In this they have gone as far as they can. 
But they cannot search your hearts. The responsi- 
bility must rest upon yourselves. 

The apostolic injunction is, " Examine yourselves 
whether ye be in the faith : prove your own selves." 
And again, " Let a man examine himself, and so let 
him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he 
that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drink- 
eth damnation (judgment) to himself, not discern- 
ing the Lord's body." What better proof could we 
have, that none but true believers have a right to 
come to the Lord's table? What then, dear friends, 
are your evidences that you have cast off the works 
of darkness, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ? You 
were once alienated from God. You did not desire 
the knowledge of his ways. You were carnally 
minded. Like the poor man in the gospel, you were 
blind from your birth, only in a different and far 
more incurable sense. You saw no form nor come- 
liness in Christ, whereby you should desire him. On 
the contrary, whether you were conscious of it or not, 
you said in your hearts, and in your life, by walking 
according to the course of this world, " Depart from 
us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." In a 
word, you were by nature " children of wrath," " chil- 
dren of disobedience ;" yea, " dead in trespasses and 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 361 

This was once your deplorable and guilty state. 
You lay helpless under the condemning sentence of 
God's holy law, and under that condemnation you 
might have been justly left to perish. In these most 
alarming circumstances, you have been called to wake 
and rise from the dead, that Christ might give you 
life. 

Now, dear brethren, what evidence have you that 
you have passed from death unto life ? I do not ask, 
whether you can all relate the same experience. 
" There are diversities of operation, but the same 
Spirit." In the exercises which go before regenera- 
tion, there are striking differences between individ- 
uals. Some are much more distressed than others, 
and for a longer time before they find deliverance. 
Upon the minds of some, the light breaks in suddenly, 
so that they can tell the very day and hour when 
they were brought out of darkness into marvellous 
light. In others, it is a faint beam at first, which 
shines more and more unto the perfect day. You 
will never get any satisfactory evidence of your good 
estate — I mean, any evidence that can be safely relied 
upon — by " comparing yourselves among yourselves." 
You must go to the Bible and compare your exer- 
cises with that divine standard. There is no other. 
" The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hear est 
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, 
nor whither it goeth. So is every one who is born 
of the Spirit." All the truly converted are not 
brought to Christ in the same way, or by the same 
means. 

But the change is the same in all, and is wrought 

Rev. Sketches. 16 



S62 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

by the same almighty power. They " are born, not 
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
man, but of God." By fervent prayer for divine illu- 
mination, and by searching the Scriptures, you may 
know in whom you have believed. You may have 
the witness in yourselves, more or less clear accord- 
ing to the earnestness of your seeking in reliance 
upon the aid of the Holy Spirit, who alone can " take 
of the things of Christ, and show them unto you." 
What then do you say for yourself? You know where 
you were once, sinking in the horrible pit and the 
miry clay. Where do you now stand? Has Christ 
brought you up, and placed your feet upon a rock? 
Do you begin to feel its firmness, and rest upon it ? 
Can you say, " One thing I know, that whereas I 
was blind, now I see ?" Have you seen the plague of 
your own hearts, and do you heartily repent of all 
your sins ? Do you approve of the law of God, which 
is holy, just, and good ? Have you been brought to 
see the impossibility of saving yourselves, and have 
you by the grace of God fled for refuge to lay hold 
on the hope set before you in the gospel ? Has your 
mind within these few weeks passed through a great 
moral revolution? Do you love that which you be- 
fore hated, and hate that which you loved? Do you 
love the Bible ; do you love the prayer-meeting; do 
you love the house of God ; do you love the brethren? 
Time was when you saw no beauty in the Saviour, 
that you should desire him. How is it now? Is 
he no longer as a root out of a dry ground, but all 
your salvation, and all your desire? Have you receiv- 
ed him by faith as your Saviour? Renouncing all 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 363 

other dependences, do you really trust in him, lean 
upon Mm, love him, cleave to him as your divine 
Teacher, your atoning Sacrifice, your Lord, and your 
King ? In asking to be admitted into his church, have 
you counted the cost? Have you considered that a 
public profession of religion requires nothing less 
than an entire consecration of body and soul, of all 
your faculties, of all you have, of all you are, to the 
service of Christ ; and as far as you know your own 
hearts, are you ready to covenant with him, relying 
on his grace to help your infirmities ? 

*. These, dear friends, are some of the tests by which 
you ought to try yourselves before you enter the 
church. Nor will your unaided self-scrutiny be suffi- 
cient. Let this be your constant prayer, " Search 
me, God, and know my heart; try me and know 
my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in 
me, and lead me in the way everlasting." 

You are all invited to come to the feast. No 
sense of unworthiness should keep you away. The 
sacramental table will be spread in a few days, and 
" whosoever will, let him come." You have no fit- 
ting garment of your own in which to come, but the 
wardrobe is hard by ; the guest-chamber is full. An 
essential condition of the invitation is, that each of 
the invited shall appear in one of the robes taken 
from that royal depository ; and Oh, fail not when 
the King comes in to see the guests, to have on a 
wedding garment. Without it you will be speech- 
less when he shall inquire why this intrusion, and 
turn you out. 



364 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

TO THE CONVERTS IN A REVIVAL WHEN THEY 
JOIN THE CHURCH. 

My bear Friends — You have stood up in the 
presence of God, of angels, and men, and taken upon 
yourselves the vows of the covenant. You have 
voluntarily and publicly renounced the world, the 
flesh, and the devil. You have been received into 
the church of Christ, which is "the pillar and ground 
of the truth. 7 ' You are " no more strangers and for- 
eigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the 
household of faith." You have come to your first 
communion with the church at the table of Christ. 
You have not by constraint, but willingly, enlisted 
under his banner, and your enlistment is for life. 
You have put your hands to the plough ; you have 
opened your mouths unto the Lord, and cannot go 
back. You think you would not for the world go 
back, if you might. "We pray that you may every 
one of you be "kept by the power of God, through 
faith unto salvation." A profession of religion is no 
sinecure. If Christ in the abounding riches of his 
grace has called you into his kingdom, it is that you 
at once enter into his service ; and your first inquiry 
should be, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? Christ 
wants no idlers among his professed followers : " Fol- 
low me," is the word of command, by the Captain of 
your salvation ; and who ever set such an example of 
activity, of entire devotedness to the great objects 
of his mission, as he did ? " Wot ye not that I must 
be about my Father's business ?" was his reply to those 
who would have diverted him from the great objects 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 365 

of his mission. "It is enough for the disciple that 
he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord." 

You are now just entering upon a religious life, 
and as you begin you will be very apt to proceed. 
If you set your mark high, remembering that "ye are 
not your own/ 7 but "bought with a price," even the 
precious blood of Christ, you will, by the aid of the 
Holy Spirit, " witness a good profession before many 
witnesses," and they will take knowledge of you, that 
you have been with Jesus. If on the contrary, hav- 
ing got into the church, you take a low stand at first, 
instead of rising you will invariably decline, till your 
brethren will be constrained to stand in doubt of you, 
and the world will ask, What do ye more than others? 
If a soldier of an earthly prince, upon his first enlist- 
ment, by going into winter quarters instead of per- 
forming the services of the campaign, would disgrace 
his profession, how much more would a soldier of 
Jesus Christ, who should consult his own ease, and 
shrink away into his cold winter quarters, when he 
ought to be in the field. 

You will not all be called to the same services in 
the church, or the world. The duties of the Chris- 
tian life are many and various, and there are diversi- 
ties of gifts. But before I proceed to enumerate 
them, I must say something about your putting on the 
armor of God, as you can do nothing without it. We 
may not forget that you are new recruits, and have a 
great deal to learn, as well as a great deal to do. 
Some of you are quite young, and you all want a sure 
Guide. Till this revival, you scarcely thought of it, 
perhaps. The broad way was wide, and you had 



366 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

room enough, without any guide. Now, the case is 
different. You have entered a new and untrodden 
path. Since you began to inquire the way to heaven, 
your pastor and other pious friends have instructed 
and directed you, as God has enabled them, and they 
will continue to do so. But you want an infallible 
Guide, one that will go with you all the journey 
through. Can you have such a guide and teacher? 
You can. Such a one has always been at your right 
hand, though till lately most of you felt very little 
need of any special direction. 

God might have inspired a prophet like Moses to 
lead you through the wilderness. He might have 
sent his angel to go before and guard you. He might 
have given the Shekinah to shine upon every step of 
the way to the promised land. But he has done 
more ; how much more! He has given you " Moses 
and the Prophets.' 7 He sent his Son, " the brightness 
of his glory and the express image of his person," to 
lead you in the way everlasting. And when he left 
the world, he inspired his apostles to be your infal- 
lible teachers and guides. And here are all their 
teachings in this one book, the Bible, just as if they 
were personally to return to the earth, and you could 
hear their voices and follow them. Christ is now, as 
it were, putting you to school, not under the law 
to bring you to Christ, but under the Gospel, that you 
may be trained up for his service. And the Bible is 
your text-book. There is no such teaching in the 
wide world as you will find here. It is put into your 
hands' now, at your setting out, to be the man of your 
counsel and the guide of your life. Take it along 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 36? 

with you, dear friends, as " a light to your feet and a 
lamp to your path." It is a. book to be read, and 
studied, and learned by heart. In one sense, it is not 
new, perhaps, to any of you ; but in another sense it 
is. The letter of some portions of it may be quite 
familiar, but to the spiritual meaning your eyes are 
only now beginning to be opened. You need the sin- 
cere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby 
and gradually reach the stature of perfect men. 

Do the younger of you ask how you can study the 
scriptures to the best advantage — where to begin, 
and how to proceed ? I answer, There is light 
in every portion of the word, and whatever interests 
you is profitable. If you would begin with the simpler 
portions, take the Gospels and the Psalms ; pray over 
every psalm, chapter, and portion as you read ; medi- 
tate, and thus prepare your minds to grasp the more 
difficult portions. The Bible is its own best inter- 
preter. By comparing Scripture with Scripture, you 
will be surprised to find how many difficult passages 
are cleared up, and the light will shine more and 
more upon the " things hard to be understood/ 7 if you 
then follow on to know the Lord. 

Let me advise you, in reading the Scriptures, not 
to confine yourselves to a single chapter at a time. 
The divisions, as we have them, are entirely arbitrary. 
They often break off abruptly in the middle of the ar- 
gument or narrative, so that if you leave off at the end 
of the chapter, you lose the connection, and may forget 
it before the next reading. In the original, there are 
no chapters. Many of the books are not so long but 
that they can be read at a single sitting. Read them 



368 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

sometimes through, as you do other small books that 
interest you, before you close the book ; while at 
other times, you will find it more profitable to read 
and meditate upon short portions. Still further, it 
will take but a moment or two to commit a text to 
memory every morning, which may be kept in mind 
through the day. Do this, and you will have treasured 
up three hundred and sixty -five at the end of the year. 
How many in ten years? No less than three thou- 
sand six hundred and fifty ! Dear friends, will you 
not do it, or rather a great deal more than this ? I 
advise you to commit whole psalms and chapters of 
the gospels to memory. It will be garnering the rich- 
est of all treasures to aid you in prayer. It will give 
a copiousness to your supplications, confessions, and 
thanksgivings, which no other language can supply. 
It was in this way that the Psalmist got his mind and 
heart so richly stored with divine truth, that he 
could say, " I have more understanding than all my 
teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation." 

And now, dear young converts, with your armor 
on and the Bible in your hands, and the promised aid 
of the Holy Spirit, what should hiuder you from 
growing in grace and divine knowledge? What 
other help can you need, to adorn the doctrine of 
God our Saviour in the discharge of your religious 
duties ? The field of Christian progress and service 
which you are just entering, is a very wide field. 
Your whole future lives, from this hour, should be 
filled up in pressing toward the mark for the prize 
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and doing 
all the good you can on the way. Let me exhort you 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 369 

to be faithful unto death, that you may receive the 
crown. It is only those who endure to the end, that 
shall be saved. 

I can only glance at a few of the obligations which 
your Christian profession lays upon you. Be careful 
to recommend religion by your consistent example. 
Without this, your profession will amount to but very 
little. Be sure, wherever your lot may be cast, that 
you do your part in support of the gospel, and just as 
much more as your ability will allow, to supply the 
lack of those who penuriously withhold their part. 

Fail not punctually and devoutly to worship God 
in his house on the Sabbath. Let nothing short of 
some providential hinderance ever keep you away. 
Never absent yourselves, if you can help it, from the 
weekly prayer-meetings of the church. On this point, 
let me be very earnest Every Christian needs the 
quickening of such a meeting, at least once a week, 
between the Sabbaths. So far as I can recollect, I 
never knew an instance of apparent growth in grace, 
by a professor who voluntarily staid away from 
the prayer-meetings ; and I very much doubt whether 
one in a thousand could be found. In the first place, 
it shows a low state of religion in the soul of such a 
church-member, and in the next place forfeits the 
strengthening of his faith which he might have 
received in the precious visits of the Saviour. You all 
remember the case of Thomas — how he fell into a sad 
state of unbelief, by being absent from the prayer- 
meetings of his brethren, when Jesus met them and 
comforted their desponding hearts. what a cutting 

rebuke, when at the next meeting he said to Thomas, 

16* 



3T3 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

" Reach, hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and 
reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side ; and 
be not faithless, but believing." Beware that you do 
not thus expose yourselves by absence from the stated 
prayer-meeting. One such unnecessary absence may 
cost you the hidings of your Master's face, through 
many a long month of doubt and declension. 

Never excuse yourselves by saying, the meetings 
are so dull and uninteresting that I derive no profit 
from them. Are they cold and dull, whose fault is it ? 
You ought to be there with warm hearts, to make 
them interesting. When called on to pray, never ex- 
cuse yourselves, though at first you should not be able 
to offer more than a few short petitions ; if offered in 
sincerity, depending on the Holy Spirit for help, he 
will ere long put thoughts into your hearts and words 
into your mouths, with a fulness and freedom of 
utterance which you now hardly dare to hope for. 

While you foster all the moral and religious inter- 
ests of the local communities where God may appoint 
the bounds of your habitations, and set your faces 
as a flint against vice in every form, cast your eyes 
abroad over the wide world lying in wickedness, 
and ask the Lord what he will have you to do for its 
enlightenment. Pray without ceasing for the spread 
of the gospel, and contribute according to your 
largest ability to Bible, Missionary, and other socie- 
ties, organised for the purpose of turning men from 
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan 
unto God. 

And so, dear friends, I might go on to specify 
many more of the imperative duties of the Christian 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 371 

life 5 but what need of proceeding further, when you 
have your instructions so clearly written out in the 
word of God, which he has put into your hands as 
the man of your counsel to guide you into all truth ? 

Christ has brought you into his church at an 
eventful period of its history. It will not do for you 
to rest where you find us in our low attainments. You 
have more light and greater privileges than most of 
us had when we came into the church. " Go for- 
ward," is the command of your great and glorious 
Leader. He requires, he expects much of you, as his 
representatives in a sinful and gainsaying world. 
Ye are a chosen, a highly favored generation, that ye 
should " show forth the praises of Him who hath called 
you out of darkness into his marvellous light." If the 
true children of God, ye are "heirs of the righteous- 
ness which is by faith." Therefore, " giving all dili- 
gence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue know- 
ledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temper- 
ance patience, and to patience godliness, and to god- 
liness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness 
charity ; for if these things be in you and abound, ye 
shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the know- 
ledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 



3Y2 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

CHAPTER IX. 

BRIEF APPEALS. 

Haying glanced at the obstacles which lie in the 
way of revivals, and what should be done to " prepare 
the way of the Lord/' and noticed some of the means 
which by God's blessing have been successfully em- 
ployed in promoting them, I add brief sketches of 
Appeals, which I have found useful in successive 
stages of these outpourings of the Spirit. I do not 
offer them as models to my younger brethren, much 
less as comprehending all the topics to be introduced 
in a revival, but as casting a little into the Lord's 
treasury for the advancement of his blessed cause. 
Let others contribute more largely from the richer 
stores of their experience, and let Christ have all the 
glory. He knows infinitely better than we do, what 
should be done to secure the choicest and most abun- 
dant spiritual harvests, and I doubt not those who 
shall come after us, have yet much to learn under his 
infallible teaching. 

"SIKS, WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?" 

Never was this question more earnestly asked, 
than by the Phillipian jailor. Who he was, or what 
had been his antecedents, we are not informed, and 
his remarkable conversion is the last we hear of 
him. It is not at all likely that he had ever troubled 
himself much about religion, and least of all about the 
new religion, which was everywhere spoken against. 



WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? 313 

He needed a great deal more instruction than could 
be given in one night. And when he asked the all- 
important question, " What must I do to be saved ?" 
why did not Paul and Silas direct him to take up the 
subject in earnest, to study the prophecies which had 
been fulfilled in the advent, sufferings, death, and res- 
urrection of Christ, through whose blood and right- 
eousness alone he could be saved ? Why did they not 
point out something which he must do preparatory to 
a saving act of faith in Christ? Why did they not 
allow him some little time at least for serious reflec- 
tion and prayer ? Simply because they had no author- 
ity for any such indulgence, and no delay was neces- 
sary. The jailor had nothing else to do, but to repent 
and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then and there 
was " the accepted time." He might die before morn- 
ing. By one hour's delay he might lose his soul. 

And so, anxious inquiring sinner, it may be with 
you. You ask just as the jailor did, what you must 
do to be saved ; and no other answer can safely be 
given, but that which he received, "Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." As he 
closed in at once, both with the condition and assur- 
ance, so may you. There is nothing more in your 
way than there was in his — less indeed, for you are 
far better instructed into the things of the kingdom, 
than we have any reason to suppose he was. You 
have had much greater advantages for knowing your 
Master's will, than he had ever enjoyed. Why do 
you linger ? Why do some of you come day after day 
to your religious teachers, asking the same question? 
They " cannot go beyond the word of the Lord, to say 



3T4 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

less or more." I mean, they cannot give you any other 
answer. They cannot mention any duty which you 
must perform before coming to Christ. The Chris- 
tian life embraces a very long catalogue of duties. 
But you must first become a Christian, before you 
can perform any of them in an acceptable manner. 
" Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." It may be good 
in the letter, but utterly wanting in spirit. You are 
" shut up to the faith." 

G-od now commands you to repent — this hour, this 
moment — not to-morrow. There is infinite danger 
in the shortest delay. You are anxious. The Holy 
Spirit is striving with you. By this one precious 
hour's resistance, he may be grieved and depart for 
ever. What is your life but the breath in your nos- 
trils, which may be stopped before you leave the 
room. Your reason too, how slight a jar may shake 
it from its throne. " Now," anxious inquirer, " is the 
accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salvation." 
If some important duty were required of you, demand- 
ing time for its accomplishment, you might delay. If 
there was any room to doubt whether Christ will ac- 
cept you just as you are, you might with some show 
of reason ask for some delay to make yourself better. 
If you were not perfectly assured that Christ will ac- 
cept you on the terms propounded to the trembling 
jailor, the case would be different. As it is, there is 
not the shadow of an excuse for delay. 

You would not treat an earthly benefactor as you 
treat the greatest and best Friend you have in the 
universe. Were you in critical circumstances, in mo- 
mentary danger of some fatal temporal calamity, and 



COME UNTO ME. 375 

a friend were to step in and say, do this or do that, 
requiring ever so much effort, you would not hesitate 
a moment, although he might possibly change his 
mind, or be unable to fulfil his promise. But here 
you are with the question on your lips, "What must 
I do to be saved?" and the answer sounding in your 
ears, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
shalt be saved f infinite truth and almighty power 
stand pledged to make the promise instantly good, 
upon its cordial acceptance ; and do you yet want 
more time ? Christ is now knocking at your door, 
and instead of hastening to let him in, are you leav- 
ing him to stand without till his head is filled with 
the dew, and his locks with the drops of the night. 
You ask what you shall do to be saved. We tell 
you, in the very words of Scripture ; and do you still 
remain in impenitence and unbelief? We cannot 
leave you here. Oh, when will you close in with the 
condition and the promise? To-day, even to-day, 
after so long a time, if you will hear his voice, harden 
not your heart. 

"COME UNTO ME, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST." 

What a blessed invitation ; and to whom was it 
addressed? Not to the self-righteous scribes and 
Pharisees. They would have rejected it with scorn. 
Not to the thoughtless multitude who followed Christ 
for the loaves and fishes. It was addressed to those 
only, and there were probably very few, who were 
awakened to a sense of their guilt and danger, who 
felt the burden of their sins, and knew not where to 
look for relief. The invitation was not confined to 



316 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

them, but was intended for the encouragement of all 
sin-burdened souls, not only while Christ was here 
in the flesh, but in all coming ages. Here then we 
have the persons addressed ; the thing to be done ; and 
the promise annexed, with the certainty of its fulfil- 
ment. 

1. The persons addressed: Come unto me, "all ye 
that labor and are heavy-laden"- — you, careless and stupid 
sinner, are not included! You are in no condition 
to value the blessing. You feel no burden ; and till 
you do, how can you apply for relief? " They that 
be whole need not a physician, but they that are 
sick." And they must believe, they must feel that they 
are sick. Go to your neighbor, and with an anxious 
tone and look tell him that a very distinguished phy- 
sician has just arrived in town, and advise him to 
send for him at once. He will stare at you, and ask 
you what you mean. " I am not sick. I feel perfect- 
ly well ; and why should I send for him, or any other 
doctor ? Let those who need his prescriptions send 
for him. It will be time enough for me when I am 
sick." Or suppose your neighbor to be really dis- 
eased, and in a critical state, but entirely unconscious 
of it ; will he take your advice ? He may thank you 
for the neighborly kindness, but he will say, " I feel 
as well as ever." He must first be convinced that he 
needs the physician, before he will apply to him. 

Just so with the careless sinner : he is not " heavy- 
laden ■" he feels no burden ; he wants no help ; he 
has "need of nothing." He must feel that he is a 
sinner, that he needs help; he must be anxious to 
know what he must do to be saved. Till then, he 



COME UNTO ME. 377 

excludes himself from the invitation. But, dear 
friend, if you "labor and are heavy-laden," if you 
feel that you are "poor and wretched, and blind 
and naked, and in want of all things/ 7 the invita- 
tion is meant for you. It is meant for all who feel 
their need. You may be ready to say, "I am so 
great a sinner, I have so long turned a deaf ear to 
the Saviour's call, that I dare not come. How can 
he accept me at this late hour ?" It is a sad and ex- 
treme case, to be sure. It is a wonder that God has 
not cut you off with all your sins upon your head ; 
but you need not despair even now. The gracious 
invitation is, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
are heavy-laden ;" " Come now, and let us reason to- 
gether, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scar- 
let, they shall be white as snow ; though they be red 
like crimsom, they shall be as wool." 

2. There must be an acceptance of the invitation, 
or it can avail nothing. You must come to Christ, 
not bodily as those who needed healing did when he 
was here in the flesh. This you cannot do, because, 
after his resurrection, he ascended up above all heav- 
ens. But you can do more ; for many who came to 
him personally did not believe on him, received no 
spiritual healing by it. Sinners have this great ad- 
vantage now, that he is spiritually present in every 
place, especially wherever there is a true revival. In 
the sense of the invitation, you can come to him at 
any moment. 

And what is it to come ? It is to come empty- 
handed and broken-hearted, casting away all other 
dependencies, throwing yourself into his outstretched 



378 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

arms, and trusting in his righteousness and atonement 
alone for pardon, justification, and eternal life. This 
is the acceptance, and nothing short of this entire 
surrender can be of any avail. You must come to 
Christ just in this way, just as you are, or you will 
be lost. 

3. Come thus to Christ, and the promise, "I will 
give you rest" is sure, for he is not slack concerning 
any of his promises. He will lift off the burden from 
your troubled conscience. He will relieve your anx- 
ious laboring mind. He will say, Son, daughter, be 
of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven thee. Oh, how 
many can testify that they have experienced the ful- 
filment of the promise : that they could find no relief 
till, with Bunyan's toiling pilgrim, they came to the 
cross, and there it fell off. 

And now, burdened sinner, what can we more 
say ? What need we say more ? " The Spirit and 
the bride say, Come ;" and will you come ? Every ob- 
stacle is removed. There is nothing in the way but 
your own obstinate and impenitent heart. Will you 
come ? will you, or will you stay away and perish ? 

" Come, ye weary, heavy-laden, 

Lost and ruined by the fall ; 

If yon tarry till yon 're better, 

Yon will never come at all. 

Not the righteous — 
Sinners Jesus came to call." 

"THE CARNAL MIND IS ENMITY AGAINST GOD." 

What is meant here by "the carnal mind?" The 
true answer to this question is vital ; and is too plain 
to be mistaken by any candid reader of this chapter. 



THE CARNAL MIND. 379 

The carnal mind is directly the opposite of the spiritual 
mind, as in the sixth verse : " To be carnally minded 
is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." 
The difference in a religious sense is as great as that 
between life and death in a natural sense. It is the 
heart, every heart, in its natural, unregenerate state. 
There is no life in it. Nay, more, as the state of the 
body after death is in its decay loathsome, and as it 
were opposed to life, so the carnal mind is enmity 
against God — not only entirely destitute of love to 
God, but in a state of actual and habitual hostility to 
him, to his holy character, to his law and his govern- 
ment. You see the language of the apostle is in the 
superlative degree, intensitive. If he had said, the 
carnal mind is opposed to God, is inimical to him, 
that would have been very strong ; but it is enmity 
itself, all enmity. 

This being settled, it follows as a matter of course, 
that it is not subject to his law, and remaining in this 
state, cannot be. It is impossible in the nature of 
things, just as impossible as that a man can live and 
move so long as he is dead. An enemy may be rec- 
onciled and become a friend. The most inveterate 
hatred may be subdued, and give place to love ; but 
till that radical change in the affections takes place, 
it remains enmity, and nothing else. It is not subject 
to the law of God, which demands the heart, " neither 
indeed can be." 

And the conclusion in the next verse irresistibly 
follows : "So then they that are in. the flesh," in this 
carnal state of enmity, "cannot please God." They 
can be subdued, they can be changed, they can be 



380 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

brought into the opposite state, for with. God all 
things are possible ; but till then, whatever they may- 
do, whatever profession of attachment to him they may 
make, he can have no pleasure in them. He can look 
upon them only as enemies, who are not subject to his 
law, neither indeed can be. 

This, my impenitent friends, is your guilty and 
alarming condition — every one of you. There are 
different degrees of depravity, different degrees of 
enmity in the natural heart ; but it is depravity, it is 
enmity and nothing else. There is no true love to 
God till the heart is changed. Some of you have been 
awakened during this revival ; some of you have been 
more or less anxious for a good while, and in your 
unregenerate state you can do many things. You can 
read your Bible, you can use the words of prayer, 
you can attend all the meetings ; you can break off 
from your easily besetting sins, and lead a blameless 
life in the sight of men ; you may be more exact in 
all the external duties of religion than some profes- 
sors are ; you may persuade yourselves that you are 
growing better ; but whatever you may do in your 
present carnal state, you cannot please God. ' ; My 
son, give me thy heart," is the first of his requirements ; 
he will accept of nothing short ; and why should he ? 
How can he ? You are in a state of rebellion. You 
must lay down your arms. You must come to the 
point of unconditional submission. You must feel 
that God is right, and you are wrong ; you must close 
in with his offers of pardon on his own terms, which 
are nothing short of repentance, of godly sorrow for 
sin, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 



THE CARNAL MIND. 381 

This, dear friends, is the true state of the case; 
how can you help seeing it ? Do what else you will, 
how can a holy, sin-hating God be pleased, so long as 
you withhold your hearts, your affections from him ? 
Reading the Bible is a duty, prayer is a duty, attend- 
ing public worship and other religious meetings is a 
duty, outward reformation is a duty — all that you 
have done, and more, it was your duty to do. All these 
externals are a part of true religion, and accepted as 
such when the heart is right. Then they please God. 
You could not please him without them. Though- 
you could multiply them a hundred-fold, without faith 
and repentance it would avail nothing. "Whatsoever 
is not of faith, is sin." Will you say, "If this is so, 
all my prayer and striving, whatever I do, is sin, and 
I may just as well leave off praying and striving — 
nay, better, as it is only making my condition worse?" 
Do such thoughts come into your mind ? Reject them 
at once. They are not from above, but from beneath. 
Do you think that neglecting all these means of grace 
would please God? You cannot believe it. You 
know it would displease him and aggravate your guilt. 
The truth is, you are shut up. You cannot go back 
without infinite peril to your soul. And you cannot 
stay where you are without adding sin to sin. You 
cannot please God either way. Your carnal mind is 
enmity against him, is not subject to his law, neither 
indeed can be. You must repent. You must cast 
yourself upon the mercy of God, as a lost sinner. 
Your case admits of no delay. 

Only one word more. Were it possible for you to 
go to heaven, carrying with you the carnal mind 



382 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

which is enmity against God, what would be your 
condition? Could you be happy there? Would it 
be heaven to you ? Impossible. Perfect love to God 
is heaven ; perfect enmity is hell ; and must be every 
where, and for ever and ever. 

"STRIVE TO ENTER IN AT THE STRAIT GATE." 

This is a very urgent and alarming exhortation. 
By the strait or narrow gate, is meant the entrance 
into the kingdom of heaven, in contrast with the 
wide gate and broad way that lead to destruction. 
That those who make no efforts to enter, should fail, 
is a matter of course, and they comprise the whole 
body of careless, delaying sinners. But it is startling 
to hear Christ say, that even many who "seek to enter 
in, shall not be able" — shall fall short and perish, 
after all their seeking. Why shall they not be able ? 
What hinders ? Though the gate is narrow, it always 
stands open till the day of grace is past. There must 
be some strange reason or reasons, why they cannot 
enter in and be saved. I can think of four, at least. 
There may be others. 

Our Saviour, here, does not mean to discourage 
seeking. Far from it. In another place he says, 
" Seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened 
unto you." Without seeking, no one ever entered, 
nor ever can. It must then depend upon the kind of 
seeking, or the time, or both. 

The first reason why some who seek to enter in 
shall not be able, is, that they trust in their own good 
works and good resolutions to save them. If their lives 
have not been blameless, they reform. They break 



STRIVE TO ENTER IN. 383 

off from sinful habits. They " do many things." They 
want to be saved, and they strive to work out their 
own salvation by the strict performance of external 
duties, till they are ready to ask, with the young 
ruler, "What lack I yet?" Like the Pharisees of 
old, they " go about to establish their own righteous- 
ness, and do not submit themselves to the righteous- 
ness of God," to the plan of salvation which he has 
ordained and proposed for their acceptance. This is 
reason enough why they cannot enter. The gate is 
not wide enough to admit them, thickly clad with 
their own righteousness ; the thicker, the greater the 
difficulty of entering. They must strip their rags all 
off. That is, they must utterly renounce all depend- 
ence upon their own righteousness as the ground of 
justification, that they may be clothed with the robe 
of Christ's righteousness. This way of seeking sets 
aside the gospel plan altogether. It is seeking salva- 
tion by the door of the law, by which " there shall be 
no flesh justified/' 

A second reason why some who seek salvation can- 
not enter the kingdom of God, is, that they do not seek 
in earnest. They are awakened. There is a dreadful 
sound in their ears. They feel that they are in dan- 
ger of being lost, and must do something. So they 
break away from their careless associates, and betake 
themselves to the external duties of religion. They 
read the Bible, they punctually attend public worship 
and listen to preaching, as they never did before. 
They pray in secret every day perhaps, and sometimes 
oftener. They attend prayer-meetings, and perhaps go 
to inquiry meetings. They are seekers, and willing to 



384 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

have it known by their impenitent associates, from 
whose companionship they have withdrawn. They seem 
to be so much engaged for a time, that their pious 
friends entertain strong hopes that they will not only 
seek, but find — that they will press into the kingdom of 
God. Still they do not " strive to enter in at the 
strait gate." They are not half so much in earnest as 
they would be if some great temporal good was to be 
gained, and could not be secured without their utmost 
efforts. Then you would see them in earnest; they 
would not turn aside, or permit themselves to be 
diverted by any minor interest, till the desired object 
was obtained. And how can they expect to win the 
heavenly crown, while they are so much less in 
earnest ? " The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, 
and the violent take it by force." 

A third reason why many who seek to enter fall 
short is that they do not persevere. For a while they 
seem to be all engaged to obtain the prize. You 
would think their entrance almost certain. They 
seem to be already at the gate, and just ready to go 
in. But they are not so near as we supposed. They 
vacillate. They hear the word with joy, but the good 
seed falls upon stony ground, where, though it springs 
up and looks green, it takes no root. In the sense in 
which Christ addressed the young ruler, they are "not 
far from the kingdom of heaven," but they never reach 
it, because they do not persevere. They find it so much 
harder than they expected to get in at the narrow gate, 
that they give it up, gradually leave off seeking, and 
finally sink down into deeper stupidity than ever. 
A fourth reason why many who seek to enter in 



STRIVE TO ENTER IN. 385 

shall not be able is that they seek too late. I know 
impenitent sinners flatter themselves that it can 
never be too late as long as life lasts, and they point 
us to the thief on the cross, who repented in the last 
agonies of crucifixion. So he did, and we do not 
deny the possibility of any sinner's conversion at the 
last hour, on his death-bed ; but that it is then too late 
for thousands who rely upon some such miracle of 
grace, does not admit of doubt. Though we may not 
know the hour when the day of grace ends, it may 
end days and weeks, if not years, before the sinner 
dies. There is such a thing as the unpardonable sin, 
and it may be committed we know not how long be- 
fore death. It was too late for Judas to seek for- 
giveness, after he had betrayed his Master. He could 
cast down the thirty pieces of silver, exclaiming in an 
agony of remorse, "I have betrayed the innocent 
blood," but it was the remorseful repentance of de- 
spair. He went away and hanged himself. 

So that awful denunciation in the first chapter of 
Proverbs : " Because I have called and ye refused, I 
have stretched out my hand and no man regarded, 77 
therefore "I will laugh at your calamity, I will mock 
when your fear cometh. Then shall they call upon 
me, but I will not answer ; they shall seek me early, 
but they shall not find me;' It was too late ; the di- 
vine forbearance was exhausted. 

So it may be, and so we have reason to fear it is, 
with many hardened sinners under the gospel. The 
time comes when it is too late to call. The die is 
cast. Nothing remaineth but a fearful looking for of 
judgment and fiery indignation, 

Eev. Sketches. IT 



386 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

But aside from all this, that with many who seek 
it will be too late, is settled by our Saviour himself 
in the words immediately following those upon which 
I have been speaking. Let us take them in their con- 
nection. " Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for 
many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall 
not be able. When once the master of the house is 
risen up and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to 
stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, 
Lord, open unto us ; and he shall answer, and say unto 
you, I know you not whence ye are : then he shall 
say, Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." Ah, 
it was too late. However long they might have been 
seeking, the day of grace was past — the door was shut. 
Heaven was lost. So it will be with many, we have 
reason to fear, among us ; their seeking will be too 
late. 

You will not wonder, my friends, that I so address 
you at this time. I could thiuk of nothing more ap- 
propriate to the present crisis. God is pouring out 
his Spirit. Some, we trust, have entered in at the 
strait gate, and are rejoicing in hope. But do not 
others of you belong to the class of seekers whose 
case I have described ? You are not indifferent spec- 
tators of what the Lord is doing among us. You feel 
that you as well as your friends have a personal in- 
terest to secure. You want to be saved. You feel 
that you are in danger of being lost, and you are 
seeking to enter in at the strait gate. But how? 
What is the reason that you have not succeeded, as 
well as others? If you are trying to establish a right- 
eousness of your own, if you expect in the least de- 



STRIVE TO ENTER IN. 387 

gree to merit salvation by your good works, that is 
reason enough. Though you could multiply them 
ever so much, though you could pile them up to the 
skies, and live a thousand years to do it in,- it would 
not aid you at all. The righteousness of Christ is the 
only ground of justification before God. Good works 
follow as the fruits — they never go before a saving 
change as the procuring cause, or reason. " The bed 
is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on 
it; and the covering narrower than that he can 
wrap himself in it." 

Do you belong to another class of seekers, who 
have given up the hope of being saved by their works, 
but are not more than half in earnest ? Is this your 
state, dear friend? Then you are in an evil case 
indeed. With all your half-hearted seeking, you are 
nothing better, but rather grow worse; for you are 
commanded to "strive" to enter in at the strait gate, 
which you are not doing at all. Your own conscience 
testifies that you are not half so much in earnest as 
you have sometimes been to secure worldly interests 
of no comparative value. Perchance you have risen 
early and sat up late, and ate the bread of careful- 
ness, and deprived yourself of sleep, for fear of not 
gaining your object. You left no stone unturned, 
you would not rest day or night, so long as you was 
in danger of losing your property by delay, or for 
lack of any possible effort to secure the title. But 
here you are seeking indeed — -reading your Bible, 
attending meetings, and using other means of grace, 
hoping you shall feel more, and then seek more ear- 
nestly, and so at last obtain. Alas, you are deceiving 



388 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

yourself. Oh. when will you be in real earnest ? When 
will you seek the Lord so as to find him? Now he is 
near, and waiting to be gracious. Call upon him to 
help you ; strive to enter in, or you will as certainly 
perish, as if you had remained utterly indifferent to 
this hour. 

Have any of you been seeking without finding, 
and are you tempted to give it up ? Are you already 
beginning to relax, to say in your heart, It is of no 
use to seek any longer; I have tried and tried to 
become a Christian, and it does no good. "Why 
should I wait for the Lord any longer?" Yes, you 
have tried, but it has been in your own strength. 
You have been seeking, but not so as to find ; and you 
never will find, so long as you rest in mere seeking : 
and never, if you give over. You must seek salva- 
tion, but it must be with an earnestness which you 
have not yet felt. You must " strive " to enter in at 
the strait gate. The original here is a great deal 
stronger than the translation. The word is agonize 
to enter in. Summon all the energies of your awakened 
soul ; let them be concentrated in the anguish of the 
sharpest pangs of an awakened conscience. Strive 
with all the agony of a broken and contrite heart. 
Cast yourself at once upon the mere mercy of God, 
through Jesus Christ, and he will save you. His 
blood cleanseth from all sin. His arm is mighty to 
save. perishing sinner, why do you linger, griev- 
ing the Holy Spirit more and more every hour ? Oh, to 
perish, after all, with those who seek to enter in and 
shall not be able. What an infinite loss ! Infinite ; 
infinite I 



CHRIST THE PHYSICIAN. 389 

"SHE WAS NOTHING BETTER, BUT RATHER 
GREW WORSE." 
This was the pitiable condition of a woman in a 
crowd of people on the west side of the lake of Gali- 
lee, where they were waiting for the return of Jesus 
from Gadara, lying on the opposite shore. She had 
long been afflicted with a wasting disease ; had spent 
all her living upon many physicians ; had gone from 
one to another, still hoping for a cure, till their skill 
was exhausted ; and " she was nothing better, but 
rather grew worse." Despairing of any relief from 
the physicians, she in her great extremity pressed 
through the throng till she could touch the hem of 
Christ's outer garment ; for she said, If I may touch 
but his clothes, I shall be whole. 

Here was a case of strong faith under the most 
discouraging circumstances. Though she had no prom- 
ise of a cure, and it does not appear that Christ had 
ever seen or spoken to her before, she believed not 
only that he had power to heal her, but that in some 
mysterious way that power would be communicated 
through a mere touch of the hem of his garment. 
Great indeed was her faith, and she was not disap- 
pointed. Straightway the fountain of her blood was 
dried up, and she felt in her body that she was heal- 
ed of that plague ; and how was it ? " Jesus imme- 
diately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out 
of him, turned about in the press, and said, Who 
touched my clothes? Then the woman, fearing and 
trembling, fell down before him, and told him all the 
truth." She doubtless expected to be rebuked for her 
temerity. But no ; He smiled upon her, and said, 



390 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

not woman, but, " Daughter, thy faith hath made thee 
whole ; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." 

This remarkable incident in the life and miracles 
of our Saviour strikingly represents the case of an 
awakened sinner who, instead of coming directly to 
Christ to be healed, applies first to many other physi- 
cians for relief ; who, in other words, resorts to all 
the expedients, uses all the means he can think of to 
obtain peace and pardon. He has such a sense of 
his danger that he cannot rest. He must be doing 
something to make himself better, and conciliate the 
favor of God. He begins to break off his sinful hab- 
its ; withdraws from his wicked companions ; reads 
his Bible ; attends public worship, and listens as he 
never did before to the preaching of the word; but 
he gets no relief: he cannot rest here; he begins to 
call upon God, he attends the prayer-meetings, he 
makes his feelings known to some pious friend, and 
is resolved to do as well as he can, hoping thereby to 
make some amends for the past, and render himself 
more worthy of the divine favor. But neither will 
this do. He finds no rest. Rather, his distress in- 
creases ; and what more can he do ? He is more and 
more afraid he shall be lost; and if the Spirit of 
God continues to strive with him, he repeats and re- 
doubles his efforts, reads his Bible more, prays oftener, 
attends more meetings, and resolves to be more exact 
in the performance of every religious duty. In this 
way he flatters himself that he is making some prog- 
ress towards securing the favor of God. He is sure 
he is a great deal better than he used to be, and can- 
not think that God will cast him off after doing so 



CHRIST THE PHYSICIAN. 391 

many things. He says he has done all he can, and 
tries to persuade himself that it would be unjust ; 
especially as, if he has not done enough, he is ready 
to do more, to make any sacrifice however great, to 
secure the salvation of his soul. 

Thus, instead of submitting himself to G-od, he has 
all along been trying to build up a righteousness of 
his own. He has been trusting in his outward refor- 
mation, in his prayers, in his religious observances. 
Or in other cases, like the young man in the gospel, 
he is ready to say, "All these things have I kept from 
my youth up ; what lack I yet ?" 

Now I do not say that the process which I have 
been describing is the only way in which sinners are 
led to Christ, or are left to quench the Holy Spirit. 
I know it is not. Such cases, however, are not un- 
common in revivals of religion. There may be at 
least one such person present in this meeting ; and, 
dear friend, what shall I say to you? You have "done 
many things." When one has failed, you have tried 
another, x and then another. You have, so to speak, 
applied to many physicians, and you have flattered 
yourself that you were growing better. You probably 
do still ; but you are not healed. You think your- 
self nearer the kingdom of heaven than you was 
months or weeks ago ; and so you are nearer in one 
sense, if you ever get there — not that you are better 
prepared for heaven. On the contrary, you are noth- 
ing better, but rather growing worse. You are more 
guilty, in the sight of God, than you was when first 
awakened ; and instead of growing better, you are 
growing worse every day. Does this startle you ? I 



393 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

wish it might. Do you ask how it can fre, when you 
have broken off from bad habits, and are reading the 
Bible and praying every day, and attending all the 
meetings, and striving to do better, and be better ? 
Are you ready to say, "If all I have done is to go 
for nothing, I don't see how I can ever be saved ?" 
Oh, my friend, you never can be saved in this way. A 
thousand times as many prayers and tythings would 
not save you. The fatal mistake is, that you have 
been "going about to establish your own righteous- 
ness." You have been building upon your own works 
and good resolutions. 

Now, I do not say that you have been growing 
worse faster since your attention was called up, than 
you would have done, had you remained indifferent 
to this hour, under all the privileges that you have 
enjoyed. I do not know. It is not for me to strike 
the balance between the guilt of utter indifference at 
such a time as this, and the guilt of resting where you 
now are. But I am afraid that even a sorer condem- 
nation awaits you, if you fall short of heaven ; for the 
Spirit of God has been striving with you ; you have 
not submitted to his righteousness ; and must not the 
guilt of sinning on from week to week, or from day 
to day under these strivings, be more aggravated ? 
May not this be your case ? Instead of growing bet- 
ter with all your doings, may you not have been 
growing worse faster than ever ? I do not see how 
it can be otherwise. Can you see ? 

But suppose that, in the sight of God, there is no 
such aggravation. Let us look at your case in the 
most favorable light possible. You will not for a 



CHRIST THE PHYSICIAN. 393 

moment claim that you have committed no sin since 
your attention was first arrested. You will admit, 
that you have sinned more or less, in thought, word 
or deed, every day ; and if so, then you are no better 
than when you began, but worse. It must be so ; for 
all your sins, up to that time, stand charged against 
you just as they were. Not one of them has been 
truly repented of; not one of them has been pardoned ; 
and now there is this addition to the long black cata- 
logue. You are therefore nothing better, but have 
rather been growing worse all the time. There is no 
escaping from this conclusion, alarming as it is. 

And now, dear friend, what will you do next? 
How much more time will you waste in trying to 
build up a righteousness of your own ? And suppose 
you could build it ever so high on your sandy foun- 
dation, what would it avail when the floods come, and 
the winds blow and beat upon it? 

Of all diseases, that of the heart is the most alarm- 
ing and fatal. The most skilful physician can do 
nothing with it. He cannot reach it. This is your 
disease. Your heart is corrupt to the very core. No 
human skill can stay the plague. Yet, blessed be God, 
you need not despair. There is one Physician who 
can cure you, and would have done it long ago, had 
you felt that your case was desperate, and applied to 
him. It is a wonder that you are not dead ; but still 
his infinite compassion yearns over you. And will 
you not follow the example of that poor woman, who 
had spent all her living upon many physicians, and 
was nothing better, but rather grew worse ? This is 
exactly your case. Will you not, as it were, press 
It* 



394 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

through the crowd this very evening, and in the exer- 
cise of like faith touch the hem of Christ's garment, 
that you may be healed? Do this, and virtue will 
instantly go out of him, and he will say, Son, or 
daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. 

" And is this all ?" methinks I hear you trem- 
blingly ask. " Casting away all my dependences, 
may I come to Christ the great Physician, and be 
healed at once?" Yes, this is all. Strange, incred- 
ible as it may seem, nothing else is required. No 
worthiness, no fitness to come. Simply "believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 
Embrace him as a divine and almighty Saviour. 
Receive him by faith as all your salvation and all your 
desire, and your sins shall be blotted out, in room 
of the filthy rags cast for ever away. You shall be 
clothed with the robe of his righteousness, be justified 
through the merits of Christ, and have a new song 
put into your mouth, even praise to our God. 

And now, dear friend, what do you say to all this ? 
Do you believe that the way to be saved is so clear, 
so simple, and can you remain any longer outside of 
the crowd that is pressing upon Jesus to be healed — 
merely looking on and wondering, while your spirit- 
ual disease is making steady progress towards a 
fatal termination? It must not be. Your life, your 
soul is too precious to be thus thrown away. You 
must press your way through the throng, that you 
too may touch the hem of Christ's garment and be 
healed. Will you ; will you do it now, this very hour, 
this very moment ? 



A CONVENIENT SEASON. 395 

«'GO THY WAY FOR THIS TIME: WHEN I HAYE 
A CONVENIENT SEASON, I WILL CALL FOR 
THEE." 

This, you know, was the promise extorted from 
Felix, the Roman governor of Judea, under a ser- 
mon delivered by Paul, the prisoner of .Jesus Christ, 
brought to his bar by the Jews, not to preach, but to 
be judged and condemned. It was an extraordinary 
spectacle. There sat the judge in his purple, and 
there stood his prisoner in bonds, and under the fierce 
accusations of his enemies thirsting for his blood. 

At the first hearing, Paul's masterly defence made 
such an impression upon the mind of Felix, that he 
adjourned the trial, that he might inquire into the 
case more perfectly for a new hearing, and this was 
the day fixed upon. He sent for Paul, and strange to 
say, instead of going on with the trial, as the Jews 
expected, he heard his prisoner concerning the faith 
in Christ. It must have been a Divine impulse upon 
the mind of this heathen judge, which gave so unex- 
pected a turn to the hearing. And as Paul, taking 
advantage of it, reasoned of righteousness, temper- 
ance, and judgment, Felix trembled, and answered, 
" Go thy way for this time : when I have a conven- 
ient season, I will call for thee." 

And why did Felix tremble before his prisoner, 
as if he himself had been suddenly arraigned before an 
infinitely higher bar ? It cannot be doubted that he 
was awakened by the Spirit of God to an awful 
sense of his guilt and danger ; nothing else could have 
made him tremble, especially in such a public presence. 
He trembled because he could not help it. The appeal 



396 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

roused his conscience, and overmastered his pride of 
office and self-control. But alas, it did not bring him 
to a decision to embrace Christianity, to repent of his 
sins and put himself at once under the further teach- 
ing of the apostle ; but so powerful was the impres- 
sion, that he could not altogether dismiss the subject ; 
and so, to make a compromise, he again adjourned the 
trial, and turning to Paul, said, " Go thy way for 
this time : when I have a convenient season, I will 
call for thee." It is probable that he really intended, 
at some future time, and when he should be more 
at leisure, to receive further instruction. But there 
is no evidence that he ever did — that the conven- 
ient season ever arrived. The contrary is evident 
from the fact, that though he often sent for Paul, it 
was in some way to get money from him, rather than 
further instruction ; and that, failing in this, when he 
was superseded in the government by Festus two 
years after, "willing to show the Jews a pleasure, he 
left Paul bound." Felix, Felix, why didst thou 
quench the Holy Spirit ? Hadst thou cherished the 
convictions which made thee tremble, thou mightest 
have been saved ; but ah, that fatal procrastination ! 
The convenient season never came ; and where art 
thou now ? 

This melancholy case of Felix strikingly repre- 
sents that of thousands who sit under the sound of 
the Gospel ; and this is the reason why I have taken 
it as the basis of an earnest appeal at this time. 
Hardly any thing is more common, and nothing is 
more dangerous, during a revival of religion, than 
this putting off the subject to a more convenient 



A CONVENIENT SEASON. 397 

season. I have met with many such cases ; and who 
that has had much experience in revivals, has not? 
A sinner is alarmed by the Spirit of God, under some 
powerful appeal from the pulpit, and like Felix, he 
trembles. The danger of his condition stares him in 
the face. His guilt has been clearly set before him, 
and his conscience testifying against him, urges him to 
immediate repentance. There is a great struggle in 
his mind. On the one hand, he is not ready to yield, 
and on the other he dare not dismiss the subject for 
ever. So he resorts to a compromise. He virtually 
says to the Spirit, who is striving with him, " I cannot 
yield now, I am very busy ; I will think seriously 
of it as soon as I am more at leisure. Go thy way 
for this time : when I have a convenient season, I will 
call for thee." Thus he grieves away the Holy 
Spirit. The convenient time never comes, and he dies 
in his sins. 

Fellow-sinner, is not this your case? Has not 
God awakened you ? Have you not been urged to an 
immediate decision ; and instead of yielding, have you 
not tried to quiet your conscience with the hope that 
you should find the more convenient season on which 
Felix fatally rested? Is not this your case now? 
Are you not saying in your heart, " Go thy way for 
this time ;" and promising yourself that you shall 
have a better opportunity ? If so, let me earnestly 
expostulate with you. We cannot go our way, we 
cannot consent to let you alone, upon a future indefinite 
promise. Nothing can be more delusive, or danger- 
ous. If you are not ready, after so long a time, to 
give your heart to God, when will you be ? If you 



?98 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

send us away now, as Felix did the apostle, when 
shall we call again? Shall it be to-morrow? If 
that is too soon, shall it be next day ? shall it be a 
week hence? When shall it be ? This trusting to a 
more convenient season will never do. Appoint the 
time when you will not only listen to us, bat repent 
at the foot of the cross — and shall we then go and tell 
our Master, that though you are not quite ready, you 
are in a hopeful way ; that you are making some prog 
ress ; that you have done talking about a more con- 
venient time ; that we have your promise, that you 
will repent to-morrow, and ? 

But no ; what am I saying ? I take it all back. 
You have no right to set us a future time, and we 
have no right to ask it. There are many reasons 
why no such compromise can be allowed. God says, 
" Now " — not to-morrow — " now is the day of salvation." 
If you wait till to-morrow, God may finally withdraw 
his Holy Spirit, and then it will be all over with you. 
Every hour's delay is infinitely dangerous. And 
again, dear friend, what promise have you that you 
shall live through- another night ; or that if spared, 
your reason may not be taken from you by some 
sudden and mortal sickness? Let that voice ring in 
your ears, " Boast not thyself of to-morrow ; for thou 
knowest not what a day may bring forth." 

And still once more, the longer you delay, the 
harder will it be to submit to Christ, to break off 
your sins and make your peace with Him. So far 
from getting any better prepared by delay, you are a 
greater sinner to-day than you was yesterday, and if 
you live, you will be a greater sinner to-morrow than 



ALMOST PEKSUADED. 399 

you are to-day. Give your resolutions of becoming 
a Christian at some future day to the winds. They 
are good for nothing. They are worse. They quiet 
and deceive you. There will be no more " convenient 
season" than the present. 

•'ALMOST THOU PERSUADEST ME TO BE A 
CHRISTIAN." 

Agrippa was the son of that Herod who behead- 
ed John and imprisoned Peter. With the title of 
king under the Roman emperors, he administered the 
provincial government of Cesar ea, and several of the 
annexed districts. Paul having been sent down un- 
der arrest from Jerusalem, charged by the Jews with 
the crimes of apostasy and sedition, was on the first 
convenient day arraigned for trial ; and in so masterly 
a manner did he defend himself before the king, that 
when he came to make that bold and remarkable 
appeal, "King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? 
I know that thou believest," Agrippa was so over- 
powered by it, that he answered Paul, " Almost thou 
persuadest me to be a Christian." 

Here we must carefully distinguish. Agrippa 
was not even an almost Christian. Saving the con- 
viction of the moment, he was as far from it as ever. 
He was only almost persuaded that he ought to become 
one. We have no reason to think he ever did. The 
greater probability is, that he gave himself no more 
concern about the new religion ; that he never after 
came so near as to be " almost persuaded," but per- 
ished in his sins. 

In this, king Agrippa may be taken as the repre- 



400 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

sentative of a very considerable class of persons in 
religious revivals. From a state of deep indifference, 
they are awakened by the Spirit of God under the 
preaching of the word. They find themselves con- 
demned by the divine law, and that they are in dan- 
ger of perishing, which they had never realized be- 
fore. They see others pressing into the kingdom of 
God. They no longer make light of the revival. 
Their consciences tell them that they are sinners, and 
need the salvation which the gospel offers. They 
dare not remain where they are. They resolve to 
take up the subject of personal religion, and yield to 
its claims. They are accordingly punctual in their 
attendance upon public worship. They listen to 
preaching as they never did before. They brush off 
the dust from their neglected Bibles, and may be 
said to " search the Scriptures " with considerable 
interest. They attend the prayer-meetings, and it 
may be the inquiry meetings. They are willing to 
be personally addressed on the great subject, and 
their impressions of its paramount importance are 
deepened. The thought of being left, while many of 
their companions and others are taken, is painful and 
alarming. They " do many things. ;; It is no pre- 
tence. They are sincere as far as they go. It may 
truly be said of some of this class at least, that they 
are " almost persuaded " to be Christians, and this 
persuasion is not a sudden impulse, as in the case of 
Agrippa, to pass away almost as soon as felt, but 
abiding, sometimes for days and weeks. 

But alas, there they remain. The last and essen- 
tial step they do not take. They are only almost per- 



ALMOST PERSUADED. 401 

suaded, not quite. In the sense of Christ's address 
to the young ruler, they are " not far from the king- 
dom of heaven;" but like him, they remain without 
till the door is shut. 

Are there not some of this class here? I believe 
there are. You may not in so many words have 
classed yourselves with Agrippa, but you stand just 
where he said he did. You are almost persuaded to 
be Christians. At least, you think you are. You 
have become so far interested in the present revival, 
as to attend all the meetings and class yourselves 
with the inquirers, and under the clear exhibition and 
claims of the gospel you have sometimes been almost 
persuaded, almost ready to yield your hearts to God 
Your pious friends have been waiting and hoping to 
see you come out of the almost to a full decision. And 
how much longer will you stand halting between two 
opinions? What do you expect to gain by it? How 
great the danger that you will lose every thing. 
You are resisting the Holy Spirit, and how long can 
you expect he will continue to strive with you ? Oh, 
if he should depart for ever, as he may at any mo- 
ment, what remains but "a fearful looking for of 
judgment and fiery indignation?" 

You are now " almost persuaded ;" but what will 
that avail in the day when God shall take away the 
soul? What does this being only " almost persuaded "' 
amount to, in any case? Here is an inebriate " al- 
most persuaded" to leave off drinking. Will that 
save him from filling a drunkard's grave ? Yonder is 
an habitual profane swearer. Will his being " almost 
persuaded " to break off from the habit reform him ? 



402 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

Will lie not keep on profaning G-od's holy name, till 
he is quite persuaded to leave it off? The command 
of universal obligation is, "Remember the Sabbath- 
day to keep it holy." Will any one's being " almost 
persuaded " to keep it, prevent his breaking it? Must 
he not be quite persuaded? Here, again, is a person 
who has been addicted to stealing. Will he steal no 
more, because he is "almost persuaded 77 to leave it 
off, and become an honest man? Who does not see 
that such almosts fall fatally short of securing a thor- 
ough reformation? 

How much more in your case, my impenitent 
friends, remaining as you are only " almost persuad- 
ed 77 to be Christians. You are yet in your sins, and 
if you go no further, you are just as certain to be shut 
out of heaven and perish, as if you had never been 
awakened at all. Nay more, you will have to answer 
for quenching the Spirit, which would have "sealed 
you unto the day of redemption. 77 In vain did the 
man-slayer only almost reach the city of refuge, how- 
ever near he got to it, when the avenger of blood 
overtook him. He must actually enter the gate, be- 
fore he could be safe. To escape the scalping-knife 
of a savage foe in hot pursuit, the border settler 
must reach the fort. Overtaken anywhere outside, 
though ever so near, he is cloven down by the toma- 
hawk. 

But what can I more say? Here you are, dear 
friends, lingering upon the " almost 77 persuasion of 
Agrippa, and in the greatest danger of perishing as 
he did. I beseech you not to rest another hour where 
you stand. To be " almost persuaded 77 is only to be 



COMMUNE WITH YOUR HEART. 403 

almost saved, and to be almost saved is to be eter- 
nally lost ! 

"COMMUNE WITH YOUR OWN HEART AND BE 
STILL." 

When sinners are awakened under the striving of 
the Holy Spirit in a revival, and become thoroughly 
alarmed, instead of going to their pastor at once, and 
asking what they must do to be saved, they commonly 
try something else first. If they are young and have 
intimate companions, their sympathies sometimes draw 
them more closely together than ever, long before 
they are converted, if converted at all. It gives them 
a sort of relief to sit down together and talk and 
weep over their danger. And why should they not ? 
It is a danger to which they are both alike exposed, 
and which is much greater than they imagine. Each 
needs help, and must have it from some quarter, or 
perish. If there were any thing to be gained by 
mutual weeping and condolence under such circum- 
stances, it should be encouraged. But what good can 
it do ? What help or encouragement can either of 
them give to his friend ? They both lie under the 
same condemnation, and can no more aid each other 
than if they were condemned prisoners in chains. 

Nay, the more they condole together, the greater 
the danger that they will grieve the Spirit to depart 
from them. Many awakened sinners have in this man- 
ner talked and wept away their concern, and returned 
to their former careless state. 

Rather, sinner, commune with thine own 
heart. Be much alone. Your friend, under the same 



404 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

condemnation, cannot help you. Pray God to show 
you your guilt, as well as your danger. The publican 
in the parable did not go to his brother publicans, to 
get their sympathies and ask them to help him. He 
knew they could not help him. He went out by him- 
self, and when he got in sight of the temple, which he 
dared not enter, and so burdened that he would not 
so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, he smote upon 
his breast and cried, " God be merciful unto me a sin- 
ner." " Go thou and do likewise." Weeping with 
thine impenitent friend ever so long, will do neither 
thyself nor him any good. 

But when two companions are awakened in a re 
vival, and one of them is brought out rejoicing in 
hope, the case is entirely different. Then he may go 
to his friend — he cannot help going — and tell him 
what a Saviour he has found, and try to show him 
the way to the cross; and with the blessing of God 
upon their renewed intercourse, he may be brought 
into the kingdom of Christ. 

I go a step further. When two bosom friends are 
awakened about the same time, they should not talk 
much with each other on any subject, till they have 
made their peace with God. The reason is obvious. 
Whatever the subject may be, though ever so suitable 
under other circumstances, there is danger of its di- 
verting their minds from the great salvation, not yet 
secured, which demands all their thoughts. And the 
same holds true, I think, in all cases. When a sinner 
is awakened and brought to inquire what he must do, 
till the great question is settled, till he has submitted 
and given his heart to God, it is not safe for him to 



QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT. 405 

talk much on common subjects with anybody. Then 
is the time to find and secure "the pearl of great 
price ;" and he must not let any thing hinder him. 
He will not if he is as much in earnest as he ought to 
be. " The one thing needful " first, and then other 
interests in their proper place. 

"QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT." 

The Holy Spirit — by whose divine agency sinners 
are awakened, convicted, regenerated, and sealed to 
the day of redemption — by which also Christians are 
sanctified, built up in the most holy faith, and "made 
meet for the inheritance of the saints in light." To 
quench, in the ordinary sense of the term, is to extin- 
guish or allay, as water puts out fire, and quenches 
thirst. In the sense here used, it is to check, to stifle. 

As Jesus Christ is the only Redeemer, so the 
Holy Spirit is the only Eenewer and Sanctifier. 
From the highest degree of holy love, shed abroad in 
the heart of the established believer, down to the 
first awakening of the impenitent sinner, it is the 
same Spirit.. And so, all along through every stage 
of awakening and conviction, up to the new birth; 
and after that, to the "helping of our infirmities with 
groanings which cannot be uttered ;" it is the self- 
same Spirit, that worketh all in all. 

At every step, from first to last, the Spirit may be 
quenched, may be checked, may be stifled, and hence 
the necessity of the exhortation now before us. Let 
us then inquire briefly, in what way or ways, by what 
means the Spirit is often quenched, especially in re- 
vivals. 



406 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

1. The Spirit may be quenched in the earliest 
stage of awakening by some trifling cause, of which 
the sinner is scarcely conscious at the time. This 
may be your case, my friend. The Holy Spirit may 
now be gently moving you to " think on your ways." 
If any Christian friend, seeing you at the prayer- 
meetings, were to ask you whether you feel any par- 
ticular interest in the work that is going on, you 
would probably, or you might answer, that you do 
not. You hope you shall, but you persuade yourself 
that as yet the exhortation, " Quench not the Spirit/' 
does not apply to you, as you have not experienced 
any thing of His special influence. But beware how 
you give Satan this advantage over you. It is one of 
his subtle devices, by which he will divert your mind 
from the subject, if he can. With his consent, you 
never would have bestowed a serious thought upon 
your own salvation ; and if he can blind you to the 
fact that the Spirit is beginning to strive with you, 
he will most certainly do it ; for then he counts on 
being sure of you. Cherish the divine influence, how- 
ever faint at first, as you would a spark of fire, if you 
had no assurance that, once extinguished, it would 
ever be rekindled. 

2. The Spirit may be quenched by the neglect of 
opportunities. When God is pouring out his Spirit, 
preaching is generally more direct and pungent, and 
religious meetings are more frequent than ordinary. 
There is no reason to doubt that many have quench- 
ed the Spirit and lost their souls by withdrawing 
from these means of grace, at the turning point. 
Their attention was arrested, their interest was grad- 



QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT. 40? 

ually increased at the prayer-meetings, and had they 
but held on, they might by striving, have entered in 
at the strait gate ; but for some cause, after a while 
they withdrew, and in so doing quenched the Spirit, 
and sank down into deeper stupidity than ever. 

I warn you, my friends, against following these 
fatal examples. "No man having put his hand to 
the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom 
of heaven. God, who in his great mercy has called 
up your attention to the claims of the gospel, does 
not allow you to hope that you shall be saved, if you 
turn back and neglect the means which he has ap- 
pointed. True as it may be — and nothing is more 
certain— that there is no saving efficacy inherent in 
the means themselves, that the excellency of the 
power is all of God, yet he so honors his own 
appointed means, that those who voluntarily neglect 
them, grieve the Spirit to leave them, just as truly as 
if every thing depended on the means alone. Be- 
ware then that you do not in this way quench the 
Spirit. 

3. The Spirit is often quenched by delay, by put- 
ting off the subject to a more " convenient season." 
Perhaps there is no temptation on which the great 
adversary depends so much in seasons of revival, as 
this. Resolving ever so sincerely to repent at some 
future time, be it ever so near, is not to be depended 
on for a moment. Every hour that you delay is at 
your peril. You are in danger of quenching the 
Spirit, which, if finally withdrawn, will leave you to 
perish. You may promise every thing for to-morrow ; 
but what will it avail, if your soul should this night 



408 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

be required of you ? Or if not, should the Spirit be 
grieved by your procrastination to depart for ever, 
what would then be your condition? It is appalling 
to think of it. The convenient season would never 
come. Supposing a sinner, thus forsaken, could live 
a thousand years, and in the enjoyment of the highest 
religious privileges, he would only be treasuring up 
wrath against the day of wrath. No sinner ever 
came to Christ, or ever will, without being drawn by 
the Holy Spirit. How fearful then the danger of 
quenching it by any delay. " Behold, now is the 
accepted time." The promise reaches no further. It 
contains no future time. 

4. The Spirit may be quenched by the absorbing 
demands of worldly business and cares. While indus- 
try in some lawful occupation is a common duty and 
necessity, there is always the greatest danger that 
" the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, 
and the lusts of other things, will choke the word and 
make it unfruitful." Especially is this the case in 
revivals. When the attention of a busy worldly- 
minded sinner is called up to seek the pearl of price- 
less value ; when he begins to feel that he must have 
a better portion than this world can give, and the 
Holy Spirit urges him to seek for it in earnest, he 
has so much on his mind and on his hands, that he is 
strongly tempted to put it off a little while, till he 
can so adjust his affairs as to be more at leisure, and 
then he will give his time and his heart to the work. 
The moment he forms this resolution, he grieves the 
Spirit to forsake him. It is of G-od's infinite forbear- 
ance, if he does not in this way quench it for ever. 



QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT. 409 

It matters not in such cases how lawful in itself the 
engrossing worldly business may be, it must be en- 
tirely given up for the time being, or so arranged as 
not to interfere with the immediate claims of the gos- 
pel. " What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole 
world, and lose his own soul?" Lose his own soul he 
will, if the good seed is choked by the thorns, whose 
end is to be burned. 

5. Nor may we stop here. When a sinner is 
under awakening, he cannot allow any thing, how- 
ever proper or innocent it might be under ordinary 
circumstances, to divert his mind from the one great 
question, "What must I do to be saved?" without 
running the fearful hazard of quenching the Spirit. 
The human mind cannot entertain two engrossing 
subjects at once, however lawful and proper in them- 
selves, and do justice to either. There is a crisis in 
the case of every awakened sinner, when the least 
diversion of the mind may quench the Spirit, and 
prove fatal. It may be nothing more than forming a 
new partnership in business, or making an honest 
lucrative bargain, or attending a social party, or 
going out of town to visit a friend : any thing which 
comes in between the sinner and the claims of the 
gospel to his immediate repentance and faith in Christ 
may quench the Spirit, and thus prove as fatal to the 
soul as any deliberate rejection would be. And here 
lies one of the greatest dangers. While the awaken- 
ed sinner perhaps breaks off from ensnaring company, 
and is on his guard against the most obvious hinder- 
ances, he can hardly be persuaded that trifling, inno- 
cent diversions may be equally ruinous. But they 

Eev. Sketches. 18 



410 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

may, and probably they oftener are, than the more 
obvious worldly attractions. 

I might suggest many other cautions against 
quenching the Spirit; but let these suffice. If G-od 
arrested you anywhere in the broad way, if he has 
awakened you to a sense of your guilt and danger, it 
may be the last time, and probably will be, if you suf- 
fer any thing to hinder you from hastening to the 
foot of the cross in "the accepted time, the day of 
salvation." 

"THE WILES OF THE DEVIL." 

That there is a fallen spirit, malignant and subtle, 
walking about among men "seeking whom he may 
devour," is so fully asserted in the Scriptures that 
I need not stop a moment to prove it. He is called 
by different names in the Bible — Angel of the bot- 
tomless pit, Prince of darkness, Satan, Beelzebub, 
the Serpent, the Deceiver, a Liar, the Prince of the 
power of the air, and the god of this world. Fright- 
ful names ; infernal agencies ; awful dangers ! 

As this great adversary of God and man was 
active in trying to counteract our blessed Saviour in 
the great work of saving men, which he came into the 
world to accomplish, so we may be sure he will re- 
double his efforts to counteract the Holy Spirit in 
seasons of special revival. In times of profound stu- 
pidity, he need trouble himself but little about those 
whom he has led captive at his will, for he is in no 
danger of losing them. But when Jesus Christ comes 
into a town, and sinners begin to inquire what they 
must do to be saved, he is sure to be there, and to 



WILES OF THE DEVIL. 411 

oppose the work in every possible way. However 
mysterious it may seem, the Bible abundantly testifies 
that he has direct access to the minds of men, and 
knows how to turn and apply his temptations to the 
greatest advantage. 

His first object of course will be to prevent sin- 
ners from taking any interest in the revival. To this 
end, he will do what he can to keep them away from 
public worship, and especially from extra meetings. 
If he cannot keep them away, the next step is to pre- 
vent them from treasuring up what they hear. " Then 
cometh Satan immediately, and taketh away the word 
that was sown in their hearts," lest they should be- 
lieve, and be saved. This, I doubt not, is just what 
he is doing here every Sabbath. If he does not suc- 
ceed in this, he will persuade them that what they 
witness is a mere temporary excitement, which will 
soon die away. If under an alarming sermon they 
begin to tremble, he will tell them not to be fright- 
ened ; there is no hell to be afraid of : just as he told 
Eve, " Ye shall not surely die ';" for he is a liar from 
the beginning, and the father of it. If this does not 
answer, he will persuade them to dismiss the subject 
for the present, and take it up at a more convenient 
time. Thousands have yielded to these and other 
suggestions of the great Deceiver, and have perished 
in their sins. I have no doubt of it. Nor have I 
any doubt that there are some — I fear there are many 
in every revival — under the same diabolical delusion. 
And the more control Satan has over them, the more 
stoutly will they deny that there is any thing in it. 
God may open their eyes before it is too late ; but of 



412 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

all classes of impenitent sinners, none are in greater 
danger • their feet stand on the most slippery places. 

Now that some of you are awakened, you must 
not flatter yourselves that the wily tempter will let 
you alone. Depend upon it, he will employ all his 
subtlety to hold you fast in his snare. If he cannot 
hinder you from asking what you must do to be sav- 
ed, he will put you upon such a course of " impenitent 
doings/ 7 if he can, as will quiet your fears, without at 
all losing his hold upon you. He will do his utmost 
to persuade you that a person so moral and inoffen- 
sive as you have been, cannot be in danger of being 
lost. " God is too merciful. If you have failed in 
any thing, repent of it. Do the best you can, and 
dismiss your concern. Be honest and kind and sober 
and blameless in every way, and all will be well." 
The Deceiver, I have no doubt, is trying to quiet some 
of you by suggesting that you are too young to be so 
anxious. " Wait a few years, till your minds are more 
mature, and you have had more religious instruction 
to prepare you for taking up the subject to a great 
deal better advantage." I am very much afraid he 
will succeed with some of you just here. Remember, 
that " he is a liar, and the father of it." If it suits 
his purpose better, he will tell you that you must 
" wait God's time " and not be discouraged ; or wait 
till the excitement is over, so that you may take up 
the subject calmly, and not be deceived. Or that 
" you are so wicked, and have held out so long, that 
God will not receive you. You might have come in, 
but it is too late." 

These are some of Satan's " devices," of which we 



WILES OF THE DEVIL. 413 

are not ignorant. He, no doubt, employs a great 
many others, as occasion serves him, in special sea- 
sons of revival ; and when all fail, he will in the 
last resort do his utmost to persuade you to settle 
down upon a false hope. Then, though it will have 
given him no little trouble to follow you, step by 
step, through your alarm and convictions, he will not 
regret it, as his object is gained at last, by your dis- 
missing all your concern, and settling down "at ease 
in Zion." 

Oh, my friends, this is no bugbear, conjured up to 
frighten weak women and young children. It is a 
voice of warning from the Scriptures, against " the 
wiles of the devil," which should make every impeni- 
tent sinner tremble. Evil spirits are not visible to 
mortal eyes, and they are infinitely more dangerous 
on that account. Could you see them waiting for 
you at the door to catch away the sermon when you 
come out of the church, meeting you in every prayer- 
meeting, and following you everywhere — could you 
hear them whispering their temptations in your ears, 
to dismiss your concern, and have no more to do with 
the revival, it would doubtless startle you. Be on 
your guard ; the tempter is here. He is in all places 
of worship at such a time as this. Your only safety 
lies in giving no place to the devil. Not content 
with what he and his angels can do to banish your 
concern, and drive away your convictions, he will 
stir up his agents, some of your neighbors, your com- 
panions perhaps, to ply you with plausible dissua- 
sives, with ridicule, or whatever else may better suit 
his malignant purpose. It is through such agents 



414 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

that Satan sometimes "is transformed into an angel 
of light." He may deceive and destroy those, who 
would be alarmed and resist him were he to show 
himself in his true colors. 

Depend upon it, dear friends, that whoever op- 
poses you, or tries in any way to prevent your becom- 
ing Christians, is an emissary of his father the devil, 
who speaks through human organs, just as the devils 
did when our Saviour was casting them out. Oh, 
my dear friends, put your fingers in your ears as 
Bunyan's Pilgrim did, and go on crying, " Life, eter- 
nal life ! eternal life I" 

"THE WILES OF THE DEVIL " — Continued. 

To young Converts. 

My dear Friends — On a former occasion, when 
you were awakened by the Spirit of God, and asking 
what you must do to be saved, I took occasion from 
the word of God to warn you against the " wiles of 
the devil," who is more active in times of revival 
than ever ; and who, I felt sure, would persuade you 
to turn back if he could. Since then, you humbly 
trust that God in his great mercy has delivered you, 
and brought you into " the kingdom of his dear Son." 
Now, at last, you feel safe. This great deliverance 
is final, you trust. For why should he hope to get 
any advantage of you, now that you have renounced 
him and all his works for ever? 

But why should he not hope and even expect to 
bring you into bondage again, notwithstanding you 
have joined the church, or are about to join? How 
does he know that you have got beyond his reach? 



WILES OF THE DEYIL. 415 

How does he know that you have been truly regener- 
ated ? Your being received into the church does not 
prove it. On the contrary, he knows very well that 
some are self-deceived, and fall away, proving that 
notwithstanding their fair profession, they belong to 
the class of stony-ground hearers, who "receive the 
word with joy, and in time of temptation fall away •" 
or to that other class, represented by the thorny 
ground, who hear the word, and the cares of this 
world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of 
other things choke the word, and it bringeth no fruit 
to perfection. Tares and wheat grow together till 
the harvest, then to be separated, the one to be gar- 
nered, and the other to be cast into the fire. Of the 
ten virgins, five were foolish, and having no oil in 
their vessels with their lamps, were shut out when 
the Bridegroom came. And again, many will say 
unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not eaten 
and drunk in thy presence? and thou hast taught in 
our streets; to whom he will say, I know you not 
whence ye are. These are very alarming scriptures. 
There is no reason to suppose that the devil is igno- 
rant that there are a great many false professors in 
church, and that he has again led them captive at his 
will. Surely he will not relinquish the hope of lead- 
ing church-members to apostatize, as long as he has 
so many trophies, won back by his stratagems. 

If he does not know who are really converted, and 
who have only the form of godliness — and there is no 
proof that he does — then why should he not tempt 
every professed disciple to deny his Master, and hope 
to prevail? And supposing he did know that you 



416 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

have been truly converted, would that infallibly pro- 
tect you? It did not discourage him from tempting 
our first parents, though perfectly holy as they came 
from the Creator's hand; and he succeeded. Nay, 
he had the amazing audacity to tempt the Lord Jesus 
Christ himself, and to ply his temptations no less 
than forty days in succession. What security then 
would there be, even if he knew that you had all the 
protection which the most eminent. Christian in the 
world ever enjoyed ? G-od told Satan that his servant 
Job was a perfect and an upright man. But that did 
not discourage him. He only wanted permission to 
put Job to the test, and having obtained it, confi- 
dently expected to prove him a hypocrite. Failing 
the first time, he wanted to subject him to a still 
severer trial. It was granted to the extent of satanic 
ingenuity and malice, simply forbiding his taking 
away Job's life. Who then should he fear to attack ? 
Now turn to your Bibles, and see how earnestly 
the churches, and of course all the members of the 
churches, are warned against the assaults of the devil, 
and exhorted to put on the only panoply that can 
protect them. Let me quote two or three passages : 
" To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also — lest 
Satan should get an advantage of us ; for we are not 
ignorant of his devices." 2 Cor. 2:11. "Be sober, 
be vigilant ; because your adversary the devil, as a 
roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may 
devour : whom resist, steadfast in the faith, know- 
ing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your 
brethren that. are in the world," that is, in all believ- 
ers. 1 Pet. 5:8. He would devour every one of 



ENDURING TO THE END. 417 

you if he could. Nothing but prayer and vigilance, 
relying on the arm of the Lord for protection, can 
save you. 

In the sixth chapter of Bphesians you have the 
Christian armor described piece by piece, and you 
will want the whole suit. You cannot be safe with- 
out every part of it. For want of a single piece of 
this heavenly panoply, many soldiers of the cross 
have been cast down wounded. With it, and under 
the eye and banner of the Captain of salvation, you 
will be sure to come off conquerors, and more than 
conquerors. You need not fear what earth and hell 
can do to take your crowns. Watch and pray against 
the wiles of the devil, and with every temptation 
God will make a way for your escape. The moment 
you let down your watch you will find yourselves, 
if not actually on the enemy's ground, so near the 
lines that some of his fiery darts may reach you. 
Therefore stand fast in the Lord, and he will be your 
high tower and strong deliverer. 

"HE THAT ENDURETH TO THE END SHALL BE 
SAVED." 

To young Converts. 

My dear Friends — We have come here to get 
our hearts warmed, and to set up our Ebenezer on 
this spot, so hallowed by the presence and interces- 
sion of the Holy Spirit. For many weeks past, this 
has been our Bethel, the morning family altar of the 
church, our Bethesda, from whose waters, agitated by 
the angel, so many have lately come up, praising God 
for his healing and restoring mercies. 

18* 



418 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

A hasty glance at the few months past would 
show what reason we have to call upon our souls and 
all that is within us to praise the Lord for visiting us 
in our low estate, and putting this new song into our 
mouths. But while you, my friends, who have just 
begun to lift up your hearts with your voices, can 
never praise him enough for this great deliverance, 
you may not sit down rejoicing, as if you would have 
but little more to do than to raise your hallelujahs 
higher and still higher to Him who hath set you 
free. 

You are now very much in the condition of the 
children of Israel, when, in looking back upon their 
marvellous deliverance from Egyptian bondage, and 
the destruction of their cruel masters, they sang that 
memorable song in the fifteenth chapter of Exodus : 
"I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed 
gloriously : the horse and his rider hath he thrown 
into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and 
he is become my salvation. Who is like unto thee, 
Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious 
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou 
in mercy hast led forth thy people ; thou hast guided 
them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. Thou 
shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain 
of thine inheritance, in the place, Lord, which thou 
hast made for thee to dwell in." 

Thus did the Hebrew tribes rejoice in their de- 
liverance, and such were their anticipations, as if they 
had already got possession of the promised land. 
They forgot that they had but commenced their jour- 
ney, that the wilderness was before them, and that 



ENDURING TO THE END. 419 

when they had sung out their song, instead of resting 
where they were, they must go forward, encounter- 
ing all its hardships and perils. They forgot that 
there were enemies yet to be met, out of whose hand 
the Lord alone could deliver them; and that there 
was no bread and no water there. But for the mirac- 
ulous supply which awaited them, they must all have 
perished at the very entrance of the wilderness. They 
must be sustained by the manna from the skies, and 
the water from the rock, all the journey through. 

So, dear friends, it is with you, rejoicing in your 
late deliverance from a far more cruel taskmaster 
than Pharaoh. In the overflowing of your thanks- 
givings, you are in danger of forgetting that this is 
not your rest, that you have only entered upon your 
journey towards the heavenly Canaan, and that you 
too have to go through the wilderness. While on 
the journey, you cannot live without the supplies of 
grace in your hearts, symbolized by the manna and 
the water that flowed from the smitten rock. The 
analogy all along is exceedingly striking — the de- 
liverance in the one case from Egyptian servitude, 
and in the other from the bondage of sin and Satan : 
the song of triumph, the wilderness, the manna, the 
water, the enemies to be encountered and vanquished 
by the arm of the Lord. 

Yes, dear friends, you have to pass through the 
wilderness. There is no other way to the promised 
land. In looking forward from your present stand- 
point, it probably does not appear very formidable. 
The setting out is so delightful, every thing seems so 
easy, that you cannot understand how there can be 



420 REVIYAL MANUAL. 

much of danger or hinderance, or hunger or thirst, 
before you — you have safely passed through the Red 
sea ; the cloud and the pillar of fire will lead you on, 
and what have you to fear? You may persuade 
yourselves that your spiritual enemies are all dead. 
Would that they were. But some of us have entered 
the wilderness before you. By painful experience 
we have learned something of what you must expect, 
and it would be unkind and unfaithful in us, not to 
forewarn and give you the best directions in our 
power. 

First then, as the Israelites could not live without 
food, and as the wilderness yielded nothing their 
bread must be rained down from the skies, so it will 
be with you. You cannot live without spiritual food. 
You must receive that Bread which came down from 
heaven to give life to the world. In other words, 
you must receive supplies of grace from the infinite 
storehouse above. You cannot advance a single stage 
without them. And as the Israelites must gather the 
manna every morning, so must you seek supplies every 
day from your heavenly Father. Just as he supplies 
your bodily wants, by giving you day by day your 
daily bread — only one day at a time — so you must 
ask him, day by day, for the true Bread to nourish 
your souls. The grace which God bestows upon you 
to-day, is no more than you need to-day, and can no 
more be kept over than the manna could. You must, 
as it were, gather it fresh every morning. You must 
ask for- new supplies every day, thus availing your- 
selves of the blessed assurance that your heavenly 
Father is more ready to give the Holy Spirit to those 



ENDURING TO THE END. 421 

that ask him, than earthly parents are to give bread 
to their children. 

Moreover, you must be satisfied with the Bread of 
heaven all the way through the wilderness, and till 
you reach the promised land. Just here the children 
of Israel made a fatal mistake. Angels 7 food was not 
good enough for them. They longed for the leeks 
and onions of Egypt. They loathed the manna. They 
lusted for flesh, and God in anger sent them the 
quails, and the plague closely followed. He gave 
them their request, but sent leanness into their souls. 
So, dear friends, it will be with you if, at any stage 
of your progress, you lose your relish for the spir- 
itual manna, and turn back to "the beggarly ele- 
ments " of the world. If you long for the carnal in- 
dulgences, the follies and amusements which you have 
left behind, " the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the 
eyes, and the pride of life," God may grant your re- 
quest, but if he does, he will "send leanness into 
your souls." You will pine away and die. 

Again, as the Israelites would have perished with 
thirst, if God had not brought water out of the rock 
for their daily and constant supply, so must you with- 
out that living water which Christ alone can pour 
down from the infinite fountain above, and which, if 
you receive it, " shall be in you a well of water 
springing up into everlasting life." As the water 
from the smitten rock flowed along, and accompa- 
nied the Israelites in all their marches till they got 
through the wilderness, so Christ was with his ancient 
church all the way, as the apostle testifies : " Breth- 
ren, I would not that ye should be ignorant how that 



422 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed 
through the sea ; and were all baptized unto Moses in 
the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same 
spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual 
drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that 
followed them, and that Rock was Christ." So, dear 
friends, that spiritual Rock will follow you, if you 
cleave to him. He will be to you "as rivers of water 
in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in 
a weary land." He will daily refresh your souls with 
grace and strength, to go on your way rejoicing. 

But after all, it is a wilderness which you have to 
pass through, "and there are many adversaries." 
You will have fightings without and fears within. 
The devil, who led Christ himself into the wilder- 
ness, will assail you with his temptations. Now is 
the time for you, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, to 
put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able 
to stand against the wiles of the devil. "For we 
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against prin- 
cipalities, against powers, against the rulers of the 
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness 
in high places. Stand therefore, having your loins 
girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate 
of righteousness, and your feet shod with the prepa- 
ration of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the 
shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench 
all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the hel- 
met of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is 
the word of God ; praying always with all prayer and 
supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto 
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." 



ENDURING TO THE END. 423 

Though these things are spoken to us in a figure, they 
strikingly represent the Christian warfare. You will 
have occasion for the whole suit of armor, in many a 
sharp conflict, before you reach the fords of Jordan. 
But if you are faithful unto death, you will come off 
conquerors and more than conquerors, through Him 
who hath loved you and given himself for you. 

Go forward, not in your own strength, but " strong 
in the Lord and in the power of his might." Nothing 
else will stand you in stead a single day, for you have 
foes within as well as without. They are your in- 
dwelling sins, which though vanquished are not all 
slain, and they are in correspondence with the enemy 
without. Indeed, but for this advantage the grand 
adversary with all his legions could have no power 
over you : " Get thee behind me, Satan," would put 
him to flight in a moment. When constrained to cry 
out with Paul, " Who shall deliver me from the body 
of this death?" may you also be able to exult as he 
did : " Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

And now, dear brethren and friends, what more 
shall we say? We bid you God speed with all our 
hearts. May He who dwelt in the bush go with, guide, 
and protect you all the journey through. The earthly 
Canaan, flowing with milk and honey, you may never 
see, but if you " endure to the end," you will at last 
reach that better country, " even a heavenly," where 
there are no foes to be driven out — where the river 
of the water of life flows out from the throne of God 
and the Lamb, watering all the heavenly plains — where 
there shall be no more fighting, no more hunger, no 



424 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

more thirst, but where you shall find infinitely sweeter 
refreshments than the honey of the rock, or the clus- 
ters of Eshcol. Press on then towards the mark of 
your high calling, singing as you go, 

Guide me, thou great Jehovah, 
Pilgrim through this barren land ; 

I am weak, but thou art mighty, 
Hold me with thy powerful hand: 

Bread of heaven, 
Feed me till I want no more. 

Open wide the crystal fountain, 
Whence the healing waters flow: 

Let the fiery, cloudy pillar 

Lead me all my journey through: 

Strong Deliverer, 
Be thou still my strength and shield. 

When I tread the verge of Jordan, 

Bid my anxious fears subside : 
Death of death, and hell's Destruction, " 

Land me safe on Canaan's side : 
Songs of praises 

I will ever give to thee. 



REVIVAL CONVERSATION'S, 

BETWEEN A PASTOR AND INQUIRERS. 



CONVERSATION I. 

Inquirer. (In the pastor's study.) Are you at leisure 
for a little while this evening ? 

Pastor. I am, and am happy to see you. 

I. My mind has for two or three days been consid- 
erably exercised on the subject of religion ; and I have 
called to see if you can help me get over some of my 
difficulties. 

P. Whatever your difficulties may be, I hope they 
are not insurmountable. Will you have the goodness 
to state them? 

I. My father and mother are both professors, and I 
have been instructed in religion. They took me with 
them to public worship earlier than I can remember, and 
I have regularly attended on the Sabbath ever since. I 
have been taught to believe in the necessity of regener- 
ation, not only from the pulpit, but at home and in the 
Sabbath-school 5 and I have never doubted the reality or 
the importance of experimental piety. I always intend- 
ed to become religious, some time or other ; and when I 
was a child I was alarmed more than once, under the 
preaching of our excellent minister. But these impres- 
sions soon wore off. When I came to college, I had a 



426 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

secret hope that I might be converted before I got 
through ; and ever since this revival began I have felt 
uneasy. Nothing has gone right. I have felt dissatis- 
fied with myself, and with every thing about me. I am 
not awakened, but I am unhappy. Preaching troubles 
me ; religious conversation troubles me ; the prayers that 
I overhear as I pass through the college entries trouble 
me. Sometimes I resolve not to attend any of the meet- 
ings ; but when the time comes, I cannot stay away. I 
go, but do not feel any thing, and I cannot, except it be 
an irresistible and unaccountable inclination to find fault 
with the doctrines which I hear, and with professors of 
religion : sometimes because they do not live up to their 
profession ; sometimes because they are overmuch right- 
eous ; sometimes because they speak to me on the sub- 
ject, and sometimes because they do not. I am a bun- 
dle of contradictions. I cannot analyze my own feel- 
ings. I want to be saved, and yet I do not care any 
thing about it ; if I did, I should not remain as I am. 

P. Your case is certainly an alarming one ; and I 
am afraid it will never be any better. According to 
your statement, you have sinned against great light. It 
is not for want of religious instruction that you have 
lived so long "without hope and without God in the 
world." And what do you think is the reason? If I 
understand you right, you admit the infinite importance 
of being reconciled to God. Why then do you hesitate ? 
What hinders you from becoming a Christian this very 
hour? 

I. I do not know. I am a wonder to myself. I cer- 
tainly wish to be saved, but what can I do ? 

P. What have you done ? Have you done any thing ? 
God has been commanding you every day, for a great 
many years, to repent of sin and believe in Christ. Have 
you done this ? He has been calling upon you, with all 



A DELAYING INQUIRER. 421 

the authority and tenderness of a father, "My son, give 
me thy heart." Have you given him your heart ? 

I. Oh, you misunderstand me. I have not got so 
far. I have told you already that I am not even awa- 
kened ; and how can I repent ? I am somewhat trou- 
bled, to be sure, or I should not be here. But my feel- 
ings are all indefinite. 

P. Do you think your not having got so far is any 
valid excuse for not repenting and giving your heart to 
God ? The question is not how far you have advanced, 
or how you feel, but how you ought to feel. 

I. I do not feel any thing. I have no sense of my 
sins, and how can I have ? I wish I could feel as others 
do, but it is impossible. 

P. My dear young friend, do stop and think what 
you are saying. You do not feel ! You have no sense 
of your sinfulness ! Astonishing ! A sinner against a 
holy God, and under condemnation, and liable every mo- 
ment to drop into a burning, hopeless eternity — and yet 
you cannot feel, cannot be alarmed, cannot "flee from the 
wrath to come I" Oh, how dead you must be ! " Hear, 

heavens ; and give ear, earth !" What a heart you 
must have ! You can feel and act on every other subject 
but this. "What would you think of a man standing still 
on a wide prairie, while the smoke and flames were ris- 
ing to heaven around him, were he in reply to your ex- 
postulations to say, "I have no feeling ; I cannot be alarm- 
ed at my situation, though I know the fire is all the 
while approaching?" What would you think of a pris- 
oner under sentence of death, were he to say, "I know 
that if I am not pardoned, I must soon die ; but I cannot 
feel enough alarmed about it to sue for pardon. I wish 

1 could. I hope I shall, before the day of execution 
arrives." How would you be shocked and distressed, to 
hear a friend laboring under a wasting disease say, "I 



428 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

know my danger, but I cannot feel it. I have heard of 
a physician who has cured thousands under the same 
circumstances, and has never yet lost a patient ; and I 
have no doubt either of his willingness to hasten to my 
relief, or of the infallibility of his remedies. But I cannot 
apply to him, I cannot send for him. I wish I felt inter- 
est enough in the preservation of my life to come to a 
decision ; but it is not in my power. I must wait till I 
can feel my danger, and then I will send for the physi- 
cian." 

What would you think of such infatuation? How 
would you be shocked at it ! And yet your own case 
differs from these only by exhibiting still greater infatu- 
ation. It is not your life that depends upon your feeling 
the danger and fleeing from it, but your immortal soul ; 
and if you had a thousand lives to lose, it would be 
nothing in comparison with the everlasting pangs of 
"the second death." 

I. I begin to see the folly and madness of my inde- 
cision in a clearer light than I ever did before. I have 
delayed too long. I ought to be in earnest. I wonder 
I am not ; but still the question returns, how can I see 
my sins, and feel my danger, and repent ? It seems to 
me impossible. 

P. But wherein does the impossibility lie ? Is there 
any thing in the way but disinclination, aversion to holi- 
ness, and love of sin ? Let me now put you to the test. 
Will you now, without any more delay, take up the sub- 
ject of religion in earnest, and do what you can to se- 
cure the salvation of your soul ? Tell me, my dear young 
friend, are you ready ? 

I. (After a pause.) I do not like to make any prom- 
ise, lest I should break it ; for that, you know, would be 
worse than not to promise at all. 

P. Just stop and consider into what a maze of con- 



PREPARATORY WORK. 429 

tradictions your deceitful heart is leading you. You 
want to be saved ; you believe in the necessity and duty 
of repentance, and yet you are not willing to engage to 
do any thing, lest you should break your promise. Your 
promise to do what ? Why, to take up the subject at 
once, and do what you can. How much does that ship- 
wrecked sailor want to be saved from drowning, who 
will make no effort to reach the life-boat which is pull- 
ing off from the shore to rescue him ? How much does 
that sick man want to recover, who will neither promise 
to take the only medicine that can do him any good, nor 
take it without promising ? And how much do you want 
to be saved from sinking into the blackness of darkness 
for ever, when you are neither willing to pledge yourself 
to do any thing, nor to do any thing without a pledge ? 
How much does that prisoner want his liberty, who will 
not come out, or even try to cast off his fetters, when 
the door is set wide open ? 

I. I cannot answer you now. I am bewildered. I 
want time to think of the subject. I will call again. 

P. You want more time ! What if you should die in 
a fit, before you get home ? "Behold, now is the accept- 
ed time; behold, now is the day of salvation." "Boast 
not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a 
day may bring forth." 



CONVERSATION II. 

Pastor. (In the inquiry room.) What progress have 
you made, my young friend, since I last saw you ? Have 
you given your heart to God ? 

Inquirer. I cannot say that I have ; but I hope I have 
made some progress. I have taken up the subject with 
the determination to seek till I find. I used, you know, 
to indulge in some bad habits. From these I have en- 



430 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

tirely broken off. I never used to pray, nor hardly ever 
to read the Bible, nor to attend any sort of religious 
meetings except on the Sabbath. But now I read the 
Scriptures regularly, and pray morning and evening, 
and I do not mean to be absent from a single meeting, 
if I can help it. In short, I mean to perform every duty, 
to do all I can, and I hope in this way to conciliate the 
divine favor. 

P. I am glad to hear that you have forsaken your 
old companions in sin, that you pray and read the word 
of God, and punctually attend on the means of grace. 
All this is right and necessary ; but according to your 
own account, it is merely preparatory work. You are 
not yet a Christian, but using means to become one? 
you are not in the ark of safety, but going towards it? 
Now, suppose you should die before you get there, or in 
other words, while you are taking what you seem to re- 
gard as the preparatory steps ? What would become of 
you ? Could you go up to the bar of God, and plead, that 
when arrested by the stroke of death, you was doing 
"many things," and even trying to repent ? Would such 
a plea avail? "God now commandeth all men every- 
where to repent ;" but when and where has he said that 
all or any of them must try to repent ? Mere trying 
falls just as far short of repenting, as trying to speak 
does of speaking, or trying to walk does of walking. 
When God requires you to do a certain thing, it is vain 
to think of putting him off with something else, as either 
preparatory or collateral. You must do the very thing, or 
you lose the blessing. 

You seem to think, that although you are not yet a 
Christian, you are in a fair way to become one ; you 
have set out, and are a good deal nearer the kingdom 
of heaven than you was a month ago. Now, supposing 
this were really the case, it would be madness to linger 



PREPARATORY WORK. 431 

as you do, when the brittle thread of life may be cut at 
any moment. If you should be within one step of repent- 
ance when you die, you would as certainly perish as if 
you had been ever so far off. The drowning mariner 
who only almost reaches the plank that was thrown over 
to save him, sinks to rise no more. The man-slayer who 
only almost reached the city of refuge before the avenger 
of blood overtook him, might as well have been cloven 
down a hundred miles off. 

Let me tell you, my young friend, and prove to you, 
that instead of being better, you are at this moment 
more sinful in the sight of a holy God, than you was 
when this revival began. You certainly have made no 
atonement for the sins which you had committed before 
that time. They will stand charged against you, just as 
if you had not bestowed a thought upon the subject of 
religion. And have you not since committed any sin? 
You will not, you cannot answer this question in the 
negative. Your own conscience testifies that you have 
sinned every day, and every waking hour. These sins 
are added to the long black catalogue in the book of 
God's remembrance — so that you are a greater sinner 
to-day than you was yesterday ; and if it were possible 
for you to live a thousand years and to spend the whole 
time in reading and prayer without regeneration and 
without repentance and faith, you would be vastly more 
sinful, and of course more unworthy of pardon than you 
are now. 

I. (In a desponding tone,) I suppose it is so ; but 
how discouraging ! According to this view of the case, 
I might just as well have remained as I was to this hour. 
It is all lost labor. • 

P. Yes, all that you have ever done or can do to 
weave a robe of self-righteousness, is lost labor. " The 
bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it, 



432 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

and the covering" is narrower than that he can wrap him- 
self in it." Salvation is a free gift, and not a reward 
bestowed. "Not by works of righteousness which we 
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by 
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost." God has infinite blessings to give, but none to 
sell. He has pardons for the penitent and believing, but 
he makes no compromises. He looks upon no other 
righteousness, save that of his beloved Son. 



CONVERSATION III. 

Pastor. (In the inquiry room.) I am glad to see you 
here once more, this evening, and hope you have come 
with a new heart, and a new song in your mouth. 

Inquirer. I wish I could say that I have ; but I do 
not see that I make any progress at all. All my strug- 
gling and striving does not bring me a step nearer to 
the kingdom of heaven. 

P. Indeed, I am more and more alarmed for you. 
You have held out a great while. The Spirit of God will 
not always continue to strive. Excuse yourself as you 
may, the sin lieth at your own door. And why, my dear 
young friend, will you not throw down the weapons of 
your rebellion, and submit unconditionally to Christ ? 

I. I have no power to submit, and how can I get the 
power ? 

P. Have no power to submit! What power does it 
require to submit — to leave off contending with God — to 
cast yourself down at the foot of his throne as a perish- 
ing sinner ? It is the prerogative of power to resist, not 
to submit. What woul^you think were a garrison, when 
closely besieged and reduced to the last extremity, to 
use this plea for not surrendering the fortress — we have 
no power to submit ? Thousands have had no power to 



DONE ALL HE COULD. 433 

hold out against a besieging enemy ; but who was ever 
too weak to surrender at discretion? How strangely 
would it sound in your ears were a perverse and rebel- 
lious child, when under chastisement, to plead as an ex- 
cuse for not confessing his fault and promising amend- 
ment, that he has no power to submit ! 

And yet, when God commands you to repent, to sub- 
mit at the foot of the cross as a poor sinner, you try to 
quiet your conscience by pleading that you have no pow- 
er to yield. Why, the difficulty with you is, that you 
have too much power, as you have hitherto used it. You 
have a power of resistance which is perfectly astonishing, 
and which nothing short of Omnipotence can overcome. 
You have held out, day after day and week after week, 
against motives which one would think must be enough 
to conquer a world — against threatenings and invita- 
tions and promises the most urgent and alluring that 
were ever addressed to rebels under the curse of God's 
holy law. What you need is, to have this terrible pow- 
er of resistance overcome. All you want is the right 
disposition, a "humble and contrite heart;" and that you 
lack this is your own fault. 

I. I cannot answer your arguments ; but although 
I begin to see the subject in a new light, it does still 
appear to me that I have been honest and sincere in 
trying to do all I can ; and will not a God of infinite 
compassion pity my weakness, and make up the defi- 
ciency ? 

P. God will never give up his rightful claims. He 
will never cease to command, however you may refuse 
to obey ; and if you die in your sins, he will justify the 
reasonableness of your condemnation before the assem- 
bled universe. Admitting the validity of your plea, 
there will be a great wonder in the day of judgment : 
you, of all the countless millions of the human family, 

Rev. Sketches. 19 



434 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

will stand alone, as one that did all he could to comply 
■with the conditions of salvation — and yet was not saved. 
Every one who perishes will be self-condemned. "Thou 
hast destroyed thyself," will ring louder and louder in 
his ears, as he sinks deeper and deeper in "the black- 
ness of darkness for ever." 

I. What more, then, can I do ? I am sure I am will- 
ing to do every thing that God requires, cost what it 
will. 

P. No, my young friend, you are not willing. Here 
lies the fatal mistake. You deceive yourself. You want 
to be saved. You shrink back from the bottomless 
gulf, upon the brink of which you are standing. You 
would doubtless give the world, if you owned it all, for 
the ransom of your soul ; but you will not give your 
heart to God — you will not repent — "you will not come 
to Christ, that you might have life." If there is any thing 
in the way but your own obstinate and wicked heart, do 
tell me what it is. Does God stand in the way? do I 
stand in the way ? do any of your Christian friends ? do 
your sinful companions ? They may try to dissuade, but 
they cannot hinder you from coming to the cross. The 
difficulty is within, and not without. 



CONVERSATION IV. 

Pastok. You will recollect, Mr. A , that I spoke 

with you last evening in the inquiry meeting ; but not 
having time to enter into your case fully, I have called 
this morning to renew the conversation. When I urged 
upon you the duty of immediate repentance, and entreat- 
ed you not to delay another hour or moment, I think 
your answer was, that you had not been under convic- 
tion long enough. Did I understand you correctly? 



NOT LONG CONVICTED. 435 

Inquirer. Yes, sir, you did. That is one of my diffi- 
culties. It is scarcely three days since I began to think 
seriously on the subject ; and having" been all my life so 
stupid and wicked, how can I turn right about and re- 
pent at once ? 

P. How long do you think you ought to be under 
conviction, before you repent ? 

I. I cannot tell exactly ; but it seems as if a sinner 
must have some time to think, and make up his mind, 
before he acts. 

P. Well, here is the Bible — will you turn to some 
passage which justifies him in delaying ? 

I. I have read the Bible so little and so carelessly, 
that if there were a hundred I should not be able to find 
them. But if I was as familiar with the Scriptures as 
you are, I presume I could find many such passages. 

P. No, my friend, not one, if you had committed every 
word of the Bible to memory. There are texts enough 
on the other side. " God now commandeth all men every- 
where to repent." " To-day," even to-day, " after so long 
a time, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart." 
This is the current language of the Bible on the subject. 
It does not allow you a day — no, not a moment — to obtain 
clearer convictions of your guilt and danger before you 
yield to Christ. But how much longer indulgence do 
you want ? Will one day satisfy you ? will two ? will a 
week ? 

I. It seems as if I ought to repent and give my heart 
to God in less than a week; but a day or two longer, 
devoted to serious reflection, cannot be much compared 
with all my life spent in sin and folly. 

P. No ; but have you any promise of living a day or 
two longer? What if God should say, "Thou fool, this 
night thy soul shall be required of thee V What will 
become of you? Will your waiting for more time to 



436 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

think of the subject save you? Besides, it seems as if 
God was now striving with you. But what if he should 
in anger withdraw his Spirit the next hour, and say, 
This man is joined to his idols ; he will not forsake them 
at once, he will not repent of sin : "let him alone !" 

I. I see the danger of delay. I may die, I know, at 
any moment, or God may leave me ; but what can I do ? 
I am not fit to come to Christ. I want to be better pre- 
pared before I come. 

P. And when will you be any more fit than you are 
now? What can you expect to gain by delay? Will 
holding out against God a day or a week longer make 
you any better? Are you not adding sin to sin, and 
growing more and more unworthy to come, every hour 
you live ? Will waiting cancel any of your past trans- 
gressions ; and is not a new page written against you 
every day in the book of remembrance ? Did the prodi- 
gal son, "when he came to himself," wait to strip off 
his rags and make himself more fit to return to his 
father ; or did he go just as he was, in the last extrem- 
ity of guilt and famine, and cry, " Father, I have sinned 
against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy 
to be called thy son ?" Did the publican wait to make 
himself more worthy of divine compassion, before he 
" smote upon his breast and cried, God be merciful to me 
a sinner ?" 

0, my friend, if you think that by waiting you can 
make yourself any more fit or worthy of being saved, 
you mistake the ground of acceptance altogether. Salva- 
tion is wholly of grace. No sinner was ever accepted on 
account of his own fitness, his own worthiness, nor ever 
will be. " The Son of man came to seek and to save that 
which was lost." He does not say, "Come unto me, all ye 
that are Jit," but, "all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, 
and I will give you rest." No, you must come just as 



NOT LONG CONVICTED. 431 

you are, poor and wretched and blind and naked and in 
want of all things, if you come at all. On no other terms 
can you be received. Christ has thrones and crowns to 
give, but not a morsel of the bread of life or a drop of 
living water to sell. "By grace you are saved through 
faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God." 

I. Yes ; I see, I see at last, that it must be so ; but 
I am such a great sinner, that I dare not come. I am 
afraid Christ will not receive me. 

P. That your sins are more heinous in the sight of 
God, than you have ever imagined, I have no doubt. But 
for whom did Christ suffer and die, if not for great sin- 
ners — for David and Manasseh and Mary Magdalene and 
Paul, as well as for Samuel and Josiah and Daniel and 
John ? Are there any little sinners, in the sense which you 
mean — any with whom God is but a little displeased ? I 
am sure I have never met with such a one ; and if there 
were, are the offers of salvation addressed exclusively 
to any class of sinners ? Does Christ say to one, I invite 
you ; and to another, I invite you to the gospel feast ; 
but to a third, You must not come — "you are so un- 
worthy, so great a sinner, that I cannot allow you to 
taste of my supper ?" Does he not say to his servants, 
" Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, 
and bring in hither the poor and the maimed, the halt 
and the blind, that my house may be filled ?" 

I. (With great emotion.) Still, I have lived so long in 
sin, and rejected so many offers, I am afraid he will not 
;eceive me. What shall I do ? 

P. What shall you do ? Why, my dear sir, your duty 
is perfectly plain. You say that you are a great snmer ; 
and you ought to repent and trust in Christ immediately. 
There is a subtle delusion at the bottom of your difficulty, 
which I fear has ruined thousands of souls. You must 
have some pledge that Christ will save you, before you 



438 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

come to him ; and when you have it, you are not satis- 
fied. To all your other sins, you add the guilt of dis- 
trust of his great and precious promises. You vir- 
tually charge him with insincerity and falsehood. You 
do not intend it ; but just look at the excuse, and tell 
me, if you can, what less it amounts to. You are afraid 
that Christ will not receive you if you do come, when he 
tells you expressly that he will. You would be glad to 
come, you wish to comply with his offers, but if you do 
he will not receive you. This, it seems to me, is your 
real position. This is the deception which you have been 
practising upon yourself, on the very brink of destruc- 
tion. Dare you rest here ? 

I. No, no, I dare not any longer. Oh, what shall 
I do? 



CONVERSATION V. 

Pastor. You see, my young friend, that many are 
pressing into the kingdom of heaven, and I am anxious 
to know how you feel. 

Inquirer. I feel as if religion was very important, and 
I hope I shall not be left. 

P. I was afraid you did not feel much interest on the 
subject, as I have rarely seen you at our meetings. You 
say you hope you shall not be left. Let me ask you 
what you are doing to obtain " the pearl of great price V* 

I. I acknowledge I am not doing much — and how 
can I ? The work is all of God, and I am waiting for 
the influence of his Spirit. He has awakened and con- 
verted a great many, and I hope he will, in his own 
time, convert me. 

P. But what if he should not ? Here you are, a sin- 
ner, saying with the sluggard, "A little more sleep, a 
little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands to 



WAITING FOR THE SPIRIT. 439 

sleep," and resting upon a vague hope that God will 
awaken you. What reason have you to expect it ? Has 
he given you any promise to that effect ? Is he under any 
obligation to save you. Will he do you any injustice 
if he passes you by ? And if he should pass you by, what 
will become of you ? 

I. If he should, I must be lost, of course ; but I hope 
he will not : I trust he will not. Does not the Bible 
somewhere say, " Wait patiently for the Lord ?" and in 
another place, "It is good that a man should both hope 
and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord ?" 

P. It does ; but you entirely misunderstand these 
passages, if you suppose they allow you still to continue 
in sin and unbelief. They imply an act of humble trust 
in God, and his covenant faithfulness. How did the 
Psalmist and other holy men of old wait for the salva- 
tion of God ? Did they listlessly fold their arms as you 
do and hope for the best, and sleep on ? No : just take 
the Bible and read for yourself. They waited on God in 
fervent and believing prayer for those blessings and de- 
liverances which he has promised to his people. 

You are waiting God's time to arrest you and bring 
you into his kingdom. God's time ! My dear young 
friend, what do you mean by God's time? When is 
it — to-day, or to-morrow; now, or a week or a month 
hence? Point me to one solitary text, if you can, which 
justifies you in delaying one hour for God to awa- 
ken you, or which authorizes you to expect that he 
will come, if you thus delay. What a fatal quietus to 
your conscience ! What a false and ruinous security ! 
What is God's time, in the only proper meaning which 
can be attached to the inquiry? What does he say in 
his word ? " Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, 
now is the day of salvation." " God now commandeth 
all men everywhere to repent." "Boast not thyself of 



440 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

to-morrow ; for thou knowest not what a day may bring 

forth." What liberty or encouragement, my dear A , 

do these Scriptures give you to continue in your sinful 
unbelief ? 

I. What else can I do ? I have no power to awaken 
myself ; much less, to change my own heart. 

P. That is, you mean, or ought to mean, that you 
have at present no disposition to make religion the all- 
important subject of inquiry — that you have no heart to 
break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquity 
by turning unto God — that there is in you a wicked 
disinclination to do what God commands you to do. You 
have power enough on the other side, in opposition to 
God, to astonish the universe. 

You are waiting, you say, for him to come and save 
you. How are you waiting ? In the use of the means of 
salvation which he has appointed — in reading the Scrip- 
tures, in prayer, in devout attendance upon the preaching 
of his word ? No ; but in the neglect of all, or nearly 
all these duties. Is this the way in which the farmer 
waits for the blessing of the Lord ? Does he fold his arms 
and say, I will wait for the harvest till it pleases God to 
bring it to me ; or does he " break up the fallow ground," 
and sow the seed ? Were you starving, would you wait 
for God to send the ravens to feed you, or would you 
make every possible effort to relieve yourself? What 
did the prodigal son do, when he came to himself? He 
said, "I will arise and go to my father," and he went. 
Had he remained among the swine, he would have 
perished. How was it in the days of John the Baptist ? 
The kingdom of heaven suffered violence, and the violent 
took it by force. What was the answer of Christ to the 
question, Are there few that be saved ? " Strive to enter 
in at the strait gate ; for many, I say unto you, will 
seek to enter in, and shall not be able." What were 



UNPARDONABLE SIN. 441 

the exhortations of his inspired apostles? "Draw nigh 
to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your 
hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double- 
minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep. Humble 
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you 
up?" "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the 
dead, and Christ shall give thee light." And how is it 
that sinners in this revival, or any other, "make their 
calling and election sure ?" Is it not by fleeing from the 
wrath to come, and laying hold on eternal life ? 

Yours, I am sorry to say, is no uncommon case. I 
am sure it is not too late, if you will now rise and flee 
to the strong-hold; for you are yet a prisoner of hope. 
Your case, though alarming, is not desperate ; I hear a 
voice from heaven, "Let the wicked forsake his way, 
and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him 
return unto the Lord, who will have mercy upon him ; 
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." 



CONVERSATION VI. 

Pastor. (To one in the inquiry meeting who had long 
been in a state of extreme depression.) Is the great 
controversy between God and your rebellious heart 
settled ? 

Inquirer. no ; and how can it ever be ? I am 
afraid I have committed the UDpardonable sin. 

P. What makes you think so ? Have you openly rid- 
iculed and opposed the revival, and tried to stop it ? 

I. If I have not, I have done that which is worse. I 
have resisted the Holy Spirit. God has called, and I 
have refused. He has said, " Turn you, turn you ; why 
will you die?" and I have virtually answered, " Depart 
from me ; I desire not the knowledge of thy ways." 
19* 



442 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

P. You say you have resisted the Holy Spirit. Have 
you done it maliciously? Have you spoken against 
Him, and ascribed your distress to satanic, or some 
other malignant influence, contrary to the convictions of 
your own conscience, thus doing "despite to the Spirit 
of grace ?" 

I. I desire to be thankful that I have not yet been 
left to pour out the wickedness of my heart in any such 
way. The bare thought makes me shudder. But still 
it seems to me, that for any one to hold out so long as I 
have done, must be unpardonable — must be to sin be- 
yond forgiveness. 

P. Has the Spirit entirely abandoned you ? Have you 
thrown off the subject from your mind, and determined 
to think no more about it? Have you no concern, no 
feeling ; no longer any desire to be saved in the way 
which God has appointed? 

I. Oh that I could be saved ! But my heart, my 
wicked heart — I am sure there never was one so hard 
as mine. I am sure it will never yield, and how can I 
be forgiven ? 

P. Your condition is indeed very alarming. I have 
thought so for many weeks. It is certain that if you do 
not repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you 
cannot be saved. But I see no reason to think that you 
have committed the unpardonable sin ; I mean the sin 
which seals the man over from that hour to certain de- 
struction. I believe that thousands are now in heaven, 
who were once in the very state that you are this morn- 
ing. They looked round for help, and none came till they 
cast themselves unconditionally upon the mercy of God 
through a Redeemer. Every sin has demerit and malig- 
nity enough to destroy the soul, if unrepented of. 

Far be it from me to cry, " Peace, peace," when God 
says, "There is no peace to the wicked." You are in 



A DESPONDING INQUIRER. 443 

great danger. You cannot resist the Spirit another mo- 
ment without adding sin to sin, and increasing the dan- 
ger; and if you hold out against God to the last, you 
will as certainly perish as if you had committed the sin 
against the Holy Ghost. All sin is alike unpardonable, 
after death. But it is a stratagem of the great adversary 
to persuade sinners that they are given over to final 
reprobation, when he cannot hinder them from inquir- 
ing and striving in any other way ; and I think this is 
the snare in which he has caught you. Full well does 
the subtle destroyer know, that if he can make you 
despair of mercy — if he can hinder you from "fleeing 
from the wrath to come," he is sure of his prey. My 
fears are, not that you have committed the unpardonable 
sin, but that you will not accept of pardon on the humil- 
iating terms of the gospel. 

I. Do you really believe, then, that there is still any 
hope for me ? 

P. Certainly I do. I have no doubt of it. The door of 
mercy yet stands open. Turn, I beseech you, turn to 
the strong-hold while you are a prisoner of hope. 



CONVERSATION VII. 

Inquirer. (In a desponding tone.) Do you think I 
shall ever come to Christ ? 

Pastor. I do not know. I am afraid you never will. 
Tou have held out so long, and your heart is so hard, 
that the prospect is exceedingly dark. I do not know 
what more powerful motives can be addressed to you, 
than you have resisted. You certainly have not grown 
any better by delay. On the contrary, the habit of sin- 
ning gains strength every day that it is indulged, and 
of course the prospect grows darker and darker. 



444 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

I. What more can I do ? 

P. What have you done ? 

I. I have read the Bible and prayed, and attended 
all the inquiry meeting's, and been hoping every day that 
my heart would bow, and I should find relief ; but it all 
does no good, and it seems as if I might as well give 
up first as last. 

P. Give up what ? Give up your heart to God ? or 
dismiss the subject, and think no more about it ? If you 
mean the former, you are perfectly correct. It is more 
than time that you had given your heart to God. But if 
you mean that you may as well give up seeking-, and re- 
turn to your former stupidity first as last, you amaze me. 
There is too much reason to fear that you have not yet 
seen "the plague of your own heart." If you dismiss 
the subject now, it will in all probability settle the 
question for ever. You may never witness another re- 
vival ; and if you should, it may be only to "behold, and 
despise and wonder and perish." 

I. I know it ; and when I think of it, it makes me 
tremble. But what shall I do ? I am sure I desire to be 
saved, and would repent if I could. 

P. Do you mean, then, to cast the blame upon God ? 

I. Certainly I do not. How can you think so ? 

P. Does he not require, does he not command you to 
repent and give yourself to Christ ? 

I. If I believe the Bible, I must believe that he does. 

P. And yet you say you would repent if you could. 
Is not this shifting the blame off from yourself? And 
upon whom, if not upon God — either for requiring you 
to repent, or for not giving- you a penitent heart, in spite 
of your resistance of the Holy Spirit ? I know, my dear 
young friend, what you want. You want to have me en- 
courage you ; and I would do it with all my heart, if I 
could in faithfulness to my Master and to your precious 



A TREMBLING HOPE. 445 

soul. You would be glad to have me say that I think 
you will by and by repent, if you keep on as you have 
done ; but I dare not say it. I do not see that you are 
any nearer the kingdom of heaven than you were a month 
ago ; and how can I encourage you ? I do not know 
what God of his infinite mercy may do ; but all the 
encouragement I can give, when you ask me what you 
must do, is, " Seek the Lord, while he may be found ; 
call upon him while he is near." " Let the wicked for- 
sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : 
and let him return unto the Lord, who will have mercy 
upon him; and to our God, who will abundantly pardon." 
" The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that 
heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come ; 
and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." 
Indeed, what greater encouragement can you desire, 
than is found in these and similar passages of Scripture ? 
"I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord, to say less 
or more." And how can you expect, or even wish to be 
saved on easier terms than these ? 



CONVEKSATION VIII. 

Pastor. (In his study.) Walk in, my young friend ; 
I have been wishing to see you for two or three days, 
but have not found time to call at your room. When 
you was here last, you was in great distress. You saw 
what your duty was, but your will would not bow ; and 
it seemed to you that there was very little, if any hope 
in your case. Others might be saved, but your heart 
was so hard that nothing could break or melt it ; and 
you left me with the acknowledgment that it would be 
perfectly just if God were to cast you off for ever. Is 
there any change in your feelings ? 



446 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

Inquirer. There is a change ; but I hardly know 
whether it is for the better or the worse. The burden 
which bowed me down to the earth, and under which it 
appeared to me I could not live much longer, is gone. 
I sometimes fear that it is because I have grieved away 
the Spirit, and I try to bring back my distress, but cannot. 
I have been calm for the last twenty-four hours, almost 
in spite of myself. What to make of it, I do not know. 

P. Will you tell me a little more particularly what 
the exercises of your mind have been, since our last in- 
terview ? 

I. I felt that night as if I was utterly forsaken of 
heaven and earth. You told me you could not help me ; 
and it did seem as if God's "mercies were clean gone 
for ever." I went to my room, and tried to pray ; but 
my mouth was shut, and it seemed as if the pit of de- 
struction was opening to receive me. At length I was 
enabled to say, " God be merciful to me a sinner ;" and 
it seemed all at once as if there was mercy for me. 
Several texts of Scripture came to my mind, particu- 
larly these two : "0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, 
but in me is thy help;" "Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and thou shalt be saved." And I cried out, 
" Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief." From that 
moment, light gradually broke into my mind. I did not 
then think that my heart was changed, and I am now 
by no means sure of it, for I have had too much experi- 
ence of its deceitfulness to trust it. But of one thing I 
am certain: a great change of some sort has taken 
place in my views and feelings. I do not seem to be the 
same man I was before. Every thing appears new. 
The sun shines brighter, the flowers are more beauti- 
ful, the birds sing more sweetly, the mountains lift up 
their heads in greater majesty, and all nature seems to 
be praising God. 



A TREMBLING HOPE. Ul 

I thought, when I was fighting against him, that he 
was a hard master, and wished I could get out of his 
hands. I was afraid to trust him. How strange. I do 
not, I cannot feel so now. Every thing with him is just 
as it should be ; his government, his law, his hatred of 
sin, his threatenings — all, all is right. 

The plan of salvation by Christ is so new, that it 
seems as if I had never heard of it before. How won- 
derful that God should send his only begotten Son to 
die for sinners ! What a glorious Saviour ! And how 
astonishing that I could have lived under the light of 
the gospel so many years without seeing any comeliness 
in him why I should desire him. When I think of my 
past life, it seems too much to hope he will forgive my 
sins ; but I do not see how I can help loving him. 

P. How does the Bible appear to you ? 

I. 0, quite like a new book. I have read it more or 
less from my childhood ; so that in one sense it has been 
familiar to me, but in another sense it has been a sealed 
book. Every chapter I read strikes me as it never did 
before. The words are the same, but the sense is dif- 
ferent. The psalms and the gospels, especially, open 
new fields of contemplation which I never thought of. 
I used, when my mother required me to read a given 
number of chapters every Sabbath-day, to be tired 
of it ; but now I should be glad to read it all the 
time. 

P. How is it in respect to prayer? Your parents 
taught you to pray when you was a child, and have been 
urging the duty upon you ever since. 

I. Yes, but it was always a task. It was mere lip- 
service. My heart was not in it. And as I did not love 
to pray myself, neither did I want to hear prayer. Many 
a time have I hastened off to bed to get rid of the even- 
ing devotions of the family. After I was awakened, as 



448 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

I have told you, I could not pray. I tried again and 
again ; but every word was cold as ice, and my con- 
science told me it was but solemn mockery. I feel very 
differently now. Why it is, I cannot say. Whether God 
has opened my mouth, I do not know. About one thing, 
however, I cannot be mistaken. Prayer is no longer a 
task, but a pleasure. I love to spread my wants before 
God, and to make supplication to him. It may be from 
selfish motives, or from mere temporary excitement. I 
fear it is ; and I ask your prayers that I may not be 
deceived. 

P. Is there any change in your feelings towards 
Christians ? 

I. There is a very great change ; and yet the time 
is so short, that I do not know whether I can place any 
dependence upon it. I used to respect those whom I 
thought sincere in their profession, though I confess 
with shame that I was sometimes censorious, and se- 
cretly pleased to find flaws in church-members. I can- 
not say that I ever took pleasure in their society as 
Christians ; my taste led me to choose associates of a 
different character. How it will be hereafter, remains 
to be proved. I have yet had no opportunity to bring 
myself to the test. It seems — and that is all I can say — 
as if my heart was drawn towards them as it never was 
till now, and as if I should be more happy in their com- 
pany than in any other. 

P. If God has chosen you to salvation, and called 
you into the kingdom of his dear Son, is it owing to any 
worthiness in you, more than in others who are still in 
the broad way to death ? 

I. no, no ; certainly not. It is all of grace. There 
was nothing in me which a holy God could approve — 
nothing but wickedness and rebellion in my heart. It 
seems to me that no other heart is so hard, so vile as 



FEAR OF EXCITEMENT. 449 

mine has been. If saved, I am a brand plucked out of 
the burning. 

P. But you have always maintained a good moral 
character, have you not ? How then can you look upon 
yourself as the chief of sinners ? 

I. God has indeed kept me back from open and scan- 
dalous sins, and I was ready to thank him that I was 
not as other men are, "extortioners, unjust," and the 
like ; but Oh, this wicked, deceitful heart ! This is what 
God looks at ; and who ever had one more deceitful and 
wicked than mine ? 

P. I think you take the right view of the matter, 
and I have been greatly interested in this conversation. 
If God has "made you willing in the day of his power," 
it is certainly an act of free and sovereign grace ; and 
let him have all the glory. If he has " begun a good 
work in you," he will carry it on "until the day of Jesus 
Christ." But, my dear young friend, it is a great thing 
to "pass from death unto life ;" and the change in your 
views and feelings is so recent, that it is difficult to say 
how much reliance is to be placed upon them. You want 
time for reflection, prayer, reading the Scriptures, and 
self-examination. You cannot tell how you may feel a 
few days hence. Time alone can decide the question. 
It is infinitely more important that you should build 
upon the right foundation, than that you should be num- 
bered or count yourself at once with the young converts. 



CONVERSATION IX. 

Pastor. Understanding from one of your classmates 
that you have expressed some interest in the revival, I 
have called this morning to converse with you on the 
subject. 



450 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

Student. It is true I have thought more about relig- 
ion of late than usual, and for two or three days have 
felt extremely uneasy. There is so much said about it, 
and so much praying in every college entry, that I have 
serious thoughts of asking leave of absence for a few 
days, till the excitement is over. 

P. Ask leave of absence ! you astonish me. How 
dare you "flee from the presence of the Lord" at such a 
time as this ? Nothing should induce you to think of it 
for a moment. It would be turning your back on heav- 
en, and might land you for ever beyond the reach of hope. 
There cannot be greater madness than for a sinner to 
run away from a revival, either through fear of being 
awakened, or to throw off conviction. Many have done 
it, and thus lost their golden opportunity ; and where 
are they ? It argues infinitely greater infatuation for a 
sinner to withdraw from the midst of a genuine revival, 
for fear of being brought under its influence, than it 
would for an inmate of a hospital, with all the livid 
spots of a malignant plague upon him, to flee from it 
at the very time when a physician of preeminent skill 
was going from ward to ward and curing all who would 
submit to his prescriptions. 

S. I do not know that I shall leave at present ; but 
I acknowledge that I am afraid of so much excitement. 
It seems to me there is great danger that many will 
get false hopes, who, if they would look at the subject 
calmly and rationally, might ultimately become Chris- 
tians. 

P. Will you explain yourself? The term excitement 
is so indefinite, that I do not know exactly what you 
mean. Have you noticed any thing like extravagance 
or enthusiasm in any of our meetings or elsewhere 
among the students? Do you hear any vociferous ap- 
peals to the passions from our preachers — any thing 



FEAR OF EXCITEMENT. 451 

that is calculated to make fanatics, or to encourage false 
hopes ? 

S. You do not quite understand me. I have no fault 
to find on that score. Perhaps there is as little to object 
to in this revival as any other. But then, you know, 
there is a great deal of feeling. Keligion is the all- 
absorbing topic. One half the students can neither talk 
nor think of any thing else. 

P. You are quite mistaken on one point, at least. 
The recitations are, upon an average, as good as they 
were before the revival began, and the attention on col- 
lege exercises is better. 

S. Still, my classmates and others all around me are 
excited, and I am getting excited also. The safest way 
therefore, I think, is to stand still and wait till the agi- 
tation subsides. When every thing becomes quiet again 
in college, and I feel perfectly calm myself, I intend de- 
liberately to take up the subject of religion as a rational 
thing, and become a Christian. 

P. Oh, my young friend, how can you deceive your- 
self in this manner ! You would pronounce any man 
insane who should reason on secular subjects as you do 
upon this. You have felt interested, excited as you say ; 
and instead of " fleeing from the wrath to come," you 
are going to "quench the Spirit," and wait till you be- 
come perfectly uninterested, perfectly stupid again ; and 
after that, when the Holy Spirit is gone, and you have 
no feeling, and there is a dead calm all around, you 
intend to do — what? Why, to "think on your ways," 
to repent of your sins, and flee to the ark of safety. 
Was any thing ever more preposterous ? 



452 REVIVAL MANUAL. 



CONVERSATION X. 



Pastor. As it is a time of great religious interest, 
and I do not see you either in the lecture or inquiry 
room, I have felt it my duty to call and urge you to im- 
prove the golden opportunity while it lasts. Soon, I am 
afraid, your unavailing and bitter cry will be, " The har- 
vest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved." 

Student. It is very kind in you to visit me. I wish I 
could become a Christian, but it is impossible. 

P. What evidence have you that it is impossible? 
Many others are pressing into the kingdom of heaven, 
and why may not you ? 

S. Mine is a very peculiar case. I have passed 
through several revivals, and have tried over and over 
again to repent, but could not. I formed a thousand 
good resolutions, but they all came to nothing, and each 
failure left me more callous than I was before. I am 
sure I want to be saved, but I dare not take up the sub- 
ject again. I dare not attend the meetings, for fear my 
distress will return, and I am sure it will do no good. 

P. Who has told you that it will do no good ? Is 
God a hard master? Is he insincere when he says, "Let 
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his 
thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, who will 
have mercy upon him?" Is it God that hinders you? 
Is it Jesus Christ who died for you ? Or is it your own 
wicked heart ? 

S. Whatever the hinderance may be, I despair of 
ever overcoming it. Having been baffled so often, I 
have concluded not to try any more, especially as I 
have once been deceived and embraced a false hope. If 
I try again, I shall at best be deceived just as I was 
before. I know that by sitting down and doing noth- 



FORMER FALSE HOPE. 453 

ing, I shall be lost ; and so I shall, do what I will. Let 
me then enjoy the present as well as I can, and think as 
little of the future as possible. 

P. Oh, my young friend, you do not know how much 
you alarm and distress me. You talk as if you were 
absolutely beside yourself. Because you have repeat- 
edly tried to escape from the greatest of all dangers, 
and have failed, you will make no further efforts. Just 
think of it. Suppose you was in a burning house, and 
had tried once, twice, or even ten times to escape, and 
had been as often driven back by the flames, would you 
give over? Would you not again and again rush tow- 
ards the door or window, as long as life and breath 
remained? I know you would, and so would every 
other man in like circumstances. 

Oh, N , "madness" is certainly "in your heart." 

I seem to see you sitting with perfect unconcern upon 
a sand-bank which a raging torrent is every moment 
washing from beneath your feet. Alarmed at the dan- 
ger, I call upon you to make for the shore instantly, 
and your cool answer is, "I have tried more than once 
already, and beg you will not disturb me." Others 
gather anxiously around ; a rope is thrown within your 
reach, and you are earnestly entreated to seize it while 
you may ; but no, you will not put forth a finger. It 
would be the second or third trial to save yourself, and 
you will not make it. Nay, I am doing you great injus- 
tice by these suppositions. You are not so indifferent 
to the preservation of your life. I see you straining 
every nerve up to the hundredth trial. 

But when I point you to the ark of safety which is 
floating by, and urge you to enter the open door, you 
coolly reply, that having made several attempts and 
failed, you have resolved to stay where you are and 
take your chance with the world of the ungodly. When 



454 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

I warn you to flee from the wrath to come, and assure 
you that Christ stands with open arms to receive you, 
your answer is, that having more than once tried to flee, 
you dare not try again, lest you should be equally un- 
successful. I come to you in the midst of this glorious 
revival, and entreat you to put yourself in the way ot 
receiving the blessing ; but cannot persuade you to do 
any thing, because when you have been awakened in 
times past, you have quenched the Spirit, and said unto 
God, " Depart from me ; I desire not the knowledge of 
thy ways." Your poor body you would do any thing, 
every thing to save, upon the barest possibility; but you 
will not make one effort more to save your deathless 
soul. If this is not infatuation, tell me by what other 
word I can express it. 



CONVERSATION XI. 

Pastor. (In the inquiry room.) Are you not almost 
tired of attending these meetings? If I mistake not, 
you were present the first evening we met after the revi- 
val began, and though three months or more have elaps- 
ed, I am not aware that you have ever been absent. 

Inquirer. No, sir ; I resolved from the beginning that 
I would attend all the meetings — that I would seek till 
I found, if there was any such thing. 

P. How, my dear young friend, have you sought, and 
what progress have you made ? Is there any change in 
your feelings since I saw you last ? 

I. I do not know that there is ; I am almost discour- 
aged ; still I cannot bear to give it up. 

P. I am discouraged too. It seems to me your case 
is, I will not say hopeless, but it certainly is exceedingly 
critical. I have conversed with you so much, and gone 



RESOLUTIONS FUTILE. 455 

over the whole ground so often, both in the inquiry room 
and in more extended interviews elsewhere, that I really 
do not know what more to say. I cannot advise you to 
stay away from the meetings ; and yet my heart sinks 
within me every time I see you. You have held out so 
long against God's most reasonable claims, that I am 
afraid you will never yield to them. Going on as you 
have done, if your life were to be protracted a hundred 
years, and you were to attend some religious meeting 
every day and every night, you would be no nearer the 
kingdom of heaven than you are now. I cannot see that 
you have advanced a single step for the last two months ; 
and I believe you do not yourself think you have ; but 
you hope you shall. When ? The probability is growing 
less and less every day. 



CONVERSATION XII. 

Pastor. When I saw you last, you expressed a full 
determination not to linger any longer, but to flee to 
the ark of safety as soon as possible. Have you kept 
your resolution ? 

Inquirer. I do not know how to answer you. I am 
sure I was sincere. I did intend to repent and give my 
heart to God, and fixed the time. But alas, when it 
came, I was not quite ready ; and so it has been with 
me over and over again. What shall I do ? My best 
resolutions vanish like a vapor, and come to nothing. 

P. The grand adversary, I fear, understands but too 
well how to manage you. He does not try to persuade 
you to give up the subject at once, and think no more 
about it, for that he knows would alarm you, and you 
might break the snare and escape. He is too subtle for 
that. He cares not how many good resolutions you form, 



456 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

if you do not keep them. You may, with his full con- 
sent, "resolve and reresolve," provided only you "die 
the same." And let me tell you, that in the very nature 
of the case, you never will, you never can repent, so long- 
as you are resolving to do it at some future time. If 
you resolve ever so sincerely to repent to-morrow, it set- 
tles the point that you will not repent to-night. You will 
certainly put it off; and when to-morrow comes, you 
will almost as certainly defer it to a more "convenient 
season." It is the remark of an old divine, that "hell is 
paved with good resolutions." The prodigal son could 
not remain starving upon husks another day or hour, 
after he came to himself. No sooner was his resolution 
taken, than it was executed. "I will arise and go to 
my father," not to-morrow, but immediately ; and he 
went, and was received as a penitent child. You must 
do as he did ; not resolve that you will return by and by, 
but return at once. Every moment's delay is a moment 
of danger and sin. 



CONYEESATION XIII. 

Pastor. I hope, my young friend, you are no longer 
"halting between two opinions," as I found you last 
week. Soon will the "harvest be past, and the summer 
ended." If you continue to hesitate and linger, and 
finally "return again to folly," the revival will leave 
you more callous than it found you; and should you 
perish after what you have witnessed and felt, your 
condemnation will be more aggravated than it would 
have been had you never enjoyed these high privileges. 
Inquirer. I am aware of it, and would that I had 
never enjoyed them. 

P. You make me shudder. Have you then no thanks 



FEAR OF AGGRAVATED DOOM. 451 

to render that the " kingdom of God is thus brought nigh 
unto you ?" Does infinite tenderness and mercy deserve 
such a return from one who is ready to perish ? 

I. How can I be thankful for that which does me no 
good, but may sink me in darker despair for ever ? 

P. Whose fault is it, if, when the bread of life is free- 
ly offered, you will not take it — if, when the waters of 
salvation flow at your feet, you will not stoop down and 
drink — if, when the blessed Saviour comes to the door 
and knocks, you will not let him in? It certainly will 
aggravate your final condemnation, that you have been 
thus exalted to heaven, if you remain impenitent. " Unto 
whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be re- 
quired." 

You wish you had never enjoyed such religious priv- 
ileges. The wish comes too late. You have, enjoyed 
them, and can never place yourself back where you was 
before. You can hereafter, if you choose, throw away 
your Bible, and forsake the house of God ; or if you do 
not, you can stop your ears and harden your heart un- 
der the means of grace j or you can flee away to some 
remote region of darkness, where there is no Sabbath 
and no preaching. You can go and live among the hea- 
then, and die with them. But still it will remain true 
that you was born of Christian parents, that you receiv- 
ed a religious education, and that you passed through 
this great revival. It is all recorded in " the book of 
remembrance f and your regrets can no more alter the 
record, than they can blot out your existence. There is 
no way for you ever to be placed on the same level with 
those who never enjoyed the gospel, and never witness- 
ed a revival. If you do not repent of sin and believe in 
Christ, it will be more tolerable for them in the day of 
judgment, than for you. 

Rev. Sketches. 20 



458 REVIVAL MANUAL. 



CONVEKSATION XIV. 

Pastor. I have just been conversing with some of 

your family, Mr. A , who feel a lively interest in the 

present revival ; and if you have a few moments to 
spare, I should esteem it a favor to talk a little with 
you. I have always regarded you as among the best 
friends I have in the congregation, and you are one of 
my constant hearers on the Sabbath ; but I am not 
aware that you have felt any particular interest in the 
work of the Lord which he is now carrying on, not only 
in this place, but in all the towns around us. Many of 
your neighbors are pressing into the kingdom of heaven. 
"Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation," 
and I am anxious to see you also " striving to enter in 
at the strait gate.' 7 

Parishioner. I am afraid that many of them are too 
fast. They get their hopes too quick and too easy. 
They act as if they could do all the work themselves, 
and repent just when they pleased. The good old doc- 
trine of dependance and divine efficiency under which I 
was brought up, seems to be going out of fashion. Sin- 
ners nowadays change their own hearts, or at least 
think they do. It was not so when I was young. They 
were under concern for weeks or months, waiting for 
God to renew them. I am for giving all the glory to 
God. He is an absolute Sovereign. His time is the 
best time, and I know of no other way but to wait and 
hope for his salvation. 

P. While it is impossible to ascribe too much glory 
to God for his immediate and omnipotent agency in the 
conversion of sinners, we must beware how we presume 
upon his mercy while we fold our arms in indifference. 
Who ever entered in at the strait gate without striving ? 



SUDDEN HOPES. 459 

While others are asking what they must do to be saved, 
and a " new song is put into their mouths," you congrat- 
ulate yourself upon being more deliberate. You are 
afraid they are too fast, and so you sit perfectly still. 
You are afraid they are getting false hopes, and so rest 
contented without any hope at all. When called upon 
to give yourself to Christ, you take shelter under sove- 
reignty and efficiency, and persuade yourself that you 
are honoring God by waiting for him to come and do 
what he has commanded you to do. 

Pak. How can I do any thing till God gives me 
strength? Have I not heard you say a hundred times 
in the pulpit, that regeneration is the work of God, and 
that he alone changes the heart ? 

P. I dare say you have ; but is this all that I have 
said? Have I not always urged upon sinners the duty 
of immediate repentance and faith, and insisted that 
there is no obstacle in the way but a wicked and impeni- 
tent heart, which is so far from constituting a reasona- 
ble excuse, that it is the very thing for which the sinner 
will be condemned? 

There is not, my friend, I will venture to say, one 
solitary text from Genesis to Kevelation, which justifies 
you in resting in impenitence for God to awaken and 
give you a new heart. Your great error lies in suppos- 
ing that you honor God by laying so much stress upon 
the riches of his grace, as to excuse you in your present 
indifference and unbelief. You are afraid to " flee from 
the wrath to come, and lay hold on eternal life ; ,; you 
are afraid to do any thing, lest you should dishonor God 
by taking the work into your own hands. How strange I 
You are living in habitual disobedience to every com- 
mand of God addressed to the impenitent, and you act 
upon calculation and principle, so that if you are ever 
converted, the whole universe may acknowledge it to be 



460 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

by the mighty power of God. How preposterous ! What 
amazing presumption ! 

I tremble for you, my respected friend, as I never did 
before. Here you are in the midst of a great revival, 
blessing yourself that you are not carried away by im- 
pulses, that you are a firm believer in divine sovereignty 
and irresistible grace, and all the hard doctrines which 
many who call themselves Christians reject. And this, 
my dear sir, is your religion. You have no other, and 
you do not yourself think it will save you. You hope 
that God in his own good time will convert you. Oh, 
how deceitful above all things is the human heart ! You 
have been waiting now thirty or forty years for God to 
come and save you, and have no doubt for the most part 
kept your conscience quiet by persuading yourself that 
you was honoring him by entertaining such high thoughts 
of his sole prerogative in the work of regeneration. How 
much longer will it do for you to wait ? Like myself you 
are growing old. Grey hairs are here and there upon 
you. Death cannot be very far off — it may be very 
near. And if God should not awaken and regenerate 
you, wrapt up as you are in false security, will you con- 
sole yourself at the close of life with the reflection, that 
you have waited patiently for him all your days, and 
that it is not your fault if you die impenitent ? 



CONVEKSATION XV. 

Pastor. You must have noticed, Mr. N , that there 

is a great change of late in the aspect of our congrega- 
tion on the Sabbath, and that religion is the leading 
topic of conversation among the people in their daily 
intercourse. May I ask what you think of it ? 

Parishioner. I hardly know what to think. I hope 



PROFESSORS INCONSISTENT. 461 

some good will come of it, if it lasts ; but there is one 
great obstacle in the way of my being benefited by it. 

P. I am very sorry for that. Will yon have the good- 
ness to explain yourself? 

Par. Why, to be perfectly frank, then, I see so much 
inconsistency in the members of your church, that it 
stumbles me exceedingly, and I know of others who feel 
just as I do. If I were a professor, I think I should try 
to live up to it. 

P. Then you believe there is such a thing as true 
religion ? 

Par. Certainly I do, and that all who profess it ought 
to adorn their profession. 

P. Do you look upon yourself as a Christian? We 
have long been looking for your assistance on the side 
of religion. 

Par. I do not think I have ever experienced that 
great change of which you speak so often in your dis- 
courses. 

P. Do you believe you can go to heaven without it ? 

Par. I fear not ; and if professors knew what stum- 
bling-blocks they are in the way of sinners, I am sure 
they would not give the world so much occasion as they 
often do to suspect their sincerity. 

P. I cannot stop to debate the question whether 
they are sincere or not. But, my dear sir, suppose the 
worst you can possibly imagine — suppose half the mem- 
bers of our church were rank hypocrites ; would that 
excuse you from the duty of immediate repentance ? Do 
not, I beseech you, live any longer upon the real or sup- 
posed faults of professors of religion. It is poor fare for 
a soul that is famishing, and ready to perish. We read 
of those in the Bible who "eat up the sins of God's peo- 
ple as they eat bread f but we never read of their being 
nourished by it. 



462 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

God, my dear sir, has not set you to watch his church 
to see how many " motes," or even " beams," you can find 
in it. But he has given you a deathless spirit to care 
for ; and if you do not " give all diligence," it will be lost. 
Many who are in the church may perish ; I fear they 
will, but that is not the question for you to settle. Were 
the whole world to perish with you, that would not as- 
suage the pangs of the second death. Let who will go 
down to the pit, be entreated to flee from it, and lay hold 
of everlasting life. 



CONVERSATION XVI. 

Pastor. Good morning, my young friend ; how do 
you do ? 

Inquirer. Oh, I am in very deep trouble, and have 
come to you again as the last resort. I have read the 
Bible a great deal for the last ten days, but it gives me 
no light nor relief. I have attended all the meetings, 
but it does me no good. I have prayed and prayed, and 
prayed again, but God will not hear me. I have tried 
to repent and cannot. I have fully resolved to give my 
heart to God, but it will not yield to him. I would give 
the world if I could come to Christ and be washed in 
his atoning blood, but my efforts are all in vain. I can- 
not move a step further. 

P. And so you have come to me, who am but a poor 
feeble, sinful worm, as the last resort. But what can I do ? 
I cannot take you out of God's hands if I would, and I 
would not if I could. His claims are perfectly just and 
reasonable. His law, which you have broken, and which 
condemns you, is a good law. He requires nothing of you 
but what would be perfectly easy, if your stubborn heart 
did not stand in the way. This is a great obstacle I ad- 
mit ; but it is voluntary, it is criminal. It is just like 



CLINGING TO A FALSE HOPE. 463 

the obstacle which hinders a disobedient child from sub- 
mitting to the authority of his father. He is so stubborn 
that he will not. And what would you think were he to 
say, " I wish I could submit, but I cannot bend my ob- 
stinate will V* Cannot ! you would reply ; what sort of 
cannot is this ? 

You have come to me as the last resort I Then you are a 
lost man, for I cannot help you. Oh that I could per- 
suade you to go to Him who is mighty to save, and who 
is as ready as he is able "to save to the uttermost" 
all who come to him. If you want instruction, I am 
most happy to give it to the full extent of my ability ; 
but what can I say more than I have said, both in ser- 
mons and conversation? The case lies in a very narrow 
compass. You are a sinner. The law condemns you. 
You cannot deliver yourself from its awful curse. But 
Jesus Christ can deliver you. He came down from heav- 
en " to seek and to save that which was lost." In dying 
on the cross, " he gave himself a ransom for all." He in- 
vites you to come just as you are, and receive the rich 
and free salvation of the gospel. He bids you come and 
" buy wine and milk without money and without price." 
You are a prodigal son, and he invites you back with all 
the tenderness of a father. Will you return — will you 
come and wash in the fountain which infinite love has 
opened for sin and for uncleanness — will you accept of 
salvation at the hand of a bleeding, dying, risen, and 
glorified Saviour? Will you; will yoio? I can say no 
more, I can make the terms no easier, I cannot help you. 
[Inquirer withdraws in silence and great depression.] 



CONVEKSATION XVII. 

Pastor. At our last interview you spoke of a decided 
change in your feelings, though you could not then de- 



464 EEVIYAL MANUAL. 

termine what it was. You was beginning to indulge 
what you called a trembling hope. Do you still retain 
it ; and if so, does it grow stronger or weaker ? 

Inquirer. I cannot say that my evidences are much, if 
any, clearer than they were at that time. They certainly 
are not so clear as I wish they were ; but still, I would 
not give up what little hope I have for the world. 

P. I do not know that I understand you. I suppose, 
when you speak of your hope as weak and trembling, 
your meaning is, that you are afraid it is not well-ground- 
ed — that although your feelings are changed, and at 
times you have some evidence of having " passed from 
death unto life," still you have many doubts and fears. 
Is this your meaning ? 

I. It is ; I feel a great part of the time as if I had 
very little if any reason to hope. 

P. And yet you would not give up what little hope you 
have for the world ? Surely, if it is a false hope, you ought 
not to keep it for the world. The sooner such a hope is 
renounced the better. It is infinitely dangerous to cling 
to it. 

I. But what shall I do ? I cannot think of going back 
again into the wilderness, and commencing anew. I 
should be the most wretched being in the world if I 
were entirely to give up my present hope. 

P. I do not undertake to decide whether your hope 
is good or bad, sound or unsound. I only say that noth- 
ing is so dangerous as a false hope, and that you ought 
not to rest satisfied in your present state of doubt and 
uncertainty for a single hour. However painful it may 
be to find by careful self-examination that you have been 
deceived, it is infinitely worse to settle down upon a 
sandy foundation. 

If a sinner who has embraced a false hope could 
never by throwing it away obtain a good one, his case 



TRUE TESTS. 465 

would be deplorable indeed. But blessed be God, this 
is not the alternative. He may still flee to the strong- 
hold. He may build again, and build upon, the right 
foundation. He may repent, he may believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, he may embrace the offers of mercy, 
and be saved. Many have given up their old hopes as 
unsound and baseless, and have exchanged them for 
that good hope, "which is as an anchor to the soul both 
sure and steadfast." 

Do not, I pray you, my friend, cling as it were with 
a death grasp to a hope which, according to your own 
acknowledgment, is very unsatisfactory. No man would 
sit down quietly, ^if his estate was in like jeopardy. 
Search the Scriptures. Examine your title. Look well 
to your foundation. Dig deep. Be thorough and hon- 
est in the whole process, and if you find your hope 
brightened, strengthened, and confirmed, bless God for 
it. But if it will not bear the test, renounce it, and 
never rest till you obtain one that will. Many, I fear, 
have perished in their sins, because they would not for 
the world give up what little hope they had. 



CONVERSATION XVIII. 

Pastor. Do you think, my young friend, that you 
have given your heart to God ? 

Inquirer. I hardly know what to think, and have 
come to you for instruction and advice. I dread, more 
than death itself, the thought of settling down upon a 
false hope. 

P. Then you have some hope ; and it is indeed infi- 
nitely important that it should be " a good hope." How 
did you obtain it ? Will you give me a short account of 
your religious feelings and exercises ? 
20* 



466 EEVIVAL MANUAL. 

I. For some time after the revival commenced, I was 
more careless and hardened than ever. I felt a strong 
aversion to religion, and did not wish to hear any thing 
on the subject. Strange as it may seem to you, I was 
unwilling that others should attend to it ; and my heart 
rose against God for passing me by and awakening 
them, at the same time that I was prepared to resist 
every influence upon my own heart. At length my 
attention was arrested ; I do not know how. I became 
anxious ; and soon began, in spite of the pride and stout- 
ness of my heart, to feel that I was a sinner. 

I tried to shake it off, but in vain. The law of God 
thundered not only in my ear, but in my conscience. 
Every sermon that I heard made me feel worse. I saw 
that it was my duty to repent, to love God, and to con- 
secrate myself to his service. But instead of yielding, 
my heart grew more and more obstinate. Nothing could 
move it ; neither love nor fear — neither the law nor the 
gospel. I saw that I was justly condemned, and that 
Christ was the only deliverer. In this extremity, I tried 
to make terms with God. I would repent and yield to 
him, if he would save me. I was ready to buy salvation 
at any price ; but not to accept of it as a free, unmerited 
gift. 

Thus did I struggle like a wild bull in a net, till I 
had no more strength left. I was in the hands of a holy 
God, who would not relax his claims ; and I saw at last, 
that it would be just if he were to cast me off for ever. 
This brought me to the brink of despair. I knew not 
which way to turn. I could not remain where I was — I 
dared not go back, and I could not go forward. Here 
the thought came into my mind, "I will cast myself 
upon the mercy of God ; and if I perish, I perish." 

I know not how or why it was ; but from that hour 
I felt calm. I might be lost ; it seemed probable that I 



TRUE TESTS. 46? 

should be. But G-od was right ; his character was glo- 
rious ; all nature was praising him ; the plan of salva- 
tion was wonderful — was full of love and mercy : why- 
had I not seen and embraced it before? Christ was 
precious. My hard heart seemed to be melted, and my 
lips were opened in praise, About this time a gleam of 
hope dawned upon my soul. Could it be all a dream, or 
a delusion ? It did seem to me that if I loved any thing, 
I loved God, and loved the Saviour, and loved Chris- 
tians, and loved to pray. 

P. You represent your heart as having been very 
hard and obstinate at the beginning of the revival. Do 
you think it was totally depraved ? 

I. I am sure it was, if there is any such thing as 
total depravity. 

P. What, had you no love to God at all ? 

I. None ; not in the least My heart was full of en- 
mity to Him and his cause. 

P. How then came you to take up the subject ? 

I. It was the Spirit of God that awakened me. I am 
sure nothing else could have arrested my attention. 

P. Do you mean to say that there was a special, di- 
vine influence upon your mind, different from what you 
had ever experienced before ? 

I. I have no doubt of it. There must have been ; for 
I have heard the same kind of preaching for years with- 
out being moved at all. Though the last revival was 
more general and powerful than this has been, and 
though I saw and heard more than I have now to excite 
me, I remained through the whole of it almost as stupid 
as the beasts that perish. 

P. I infer, from your saying your heart was totally 
depraved, that you believe in the necessity of regenera- 
tion. 

I. I do. 



468 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

P. And you hope your own heart has been renewed ? 

I. I have a gleam of hope, as I remarked in the be- 
ginning of our conversation ; but my heart is so deceit- 
ful that I am afraid to trust it. 

P. Then you obeyed the command of God and made 
yourself a new heart, did you not ? 

I. No sir ; I never obeyed any of his commands, till 
he made me willing in the day of his power. If I have 
a new heart, he gave it to me. It seems to me that pas- 
sage in the thirty -first chapter of Jeremiah, which I was 
reading this morning, suits my case exactly : " Surely, 
after that I was turned I repented, and after I was in- 
structed I smote upon my thigh." If I have any reason 
to hope, I ascribe it entirely to the free grace of God, 
from beginning to end. I was going down the broad 
way as fast as I could, when he arrested me ; and if I 
am saved, all the glory belongs to him. 

P. These are views which it is safe for you to cher- 
ish. But you have a great deal yet to learn. Search 
the Scriptures. Be much in prayer to God for the illu- 
mination of his Spirit. If he has given you a new heart, 
and you consecrate it to his service, He will give you 
more light, and clearer evidence of your adoption. 



CONVERSATION XIX. 

Pastor. I am glad to meet you this morning, Mr. 
We are going to have a meeting in your neigh- 



borhood this evening, and I hope you will attend it. 

Caviller. What good will it do me, if I should ? 

P. That will depend in a great measure upon your- 
self. If you go with a sincere desire to hear the truth, 
and treasure it up in a good and honest heart, it will do 
you good. 

C. I like your preaching pretty well when I happen 



DIFFICULTIES. 469 

to hear it, which, you know, is not very often, and per- 
haps, if not otherwise engaged, I may comply with your 
invitation ; but there are some of your doctrines which 
I do not believe. 

P. I am very sorry for that, if they are true, as I 
think they are or I should not preach them. But will 
you be so kind as to specify some of them. 

C. Why, depravity, for instance. I don't believe 
that all mankind are totally depraved. 

P. You do n't ? I thought you did. I am quite sure 
I have heard you say very lately, and with a good deal 
of emphasis too, that all the world is a cheat ; that you 
can trust nobody, and that the longer you live the worse 
opinion you have of human nature. This is carrying 
the matter further than I do. I do not think all men 
would overreach and defraud you, if they had the oppor- 
tunity. On the contrary, I believe there is a great deal 
of honesty in the world, though I at the same time be- 
lieve that all men are by nature entirely destitute of 
holiness, and that, in the language of Scripture, "the 
carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject 
to his law, neither indeed can be." You believe that 
we are all sinners, that we ought to repent of sin, and 
that we need pardon through Christ ; do you not ? 

C. Undoubtedly. 

P. Will you allow me then tenderly to ask, Have you 
repented ; have you obtained the pardon of your sins, so 
that if you were to die the next hour, it would be well 
with you ? Whether you are totally depraved or not, 
you are certainly so much depraved that you cannot be 
saved without repentance and forgiveness. A millstone 
of a hundred pounds will as certainly sink a man in the 
depths of the sea as one of a thousand. 

C. Well, but you hold to the necessity of regeneration, 
as well as to repentance. You say that our hearts must 



410 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

be changed by the Spirit of God, or we cannot be saved. 
Now, I do not believe that any such divine agency is 
necessary. We are not machines to be acted upon. We 
are free moral agents. Any man can repent and turn to 
God when he pleases, and this, I hold, is all the change 
of heart that is necessary. My Bible reads, "Awake, 
thou that sleepest, and rise from the dead." And again, 
if I am not mistaken, "Make you a new heart and a new 
spirit ; for why will ye die V* 

P. My Bible reads just so too. And by the way, you 
do believe in total depravity as I hold it, after all. For 
how can a sinner rise from the dead, if he is not dead, 
but only sick, very sick if you please ? Or what need 
can there be of his making himself a new heart, if his 
old heart is not entirely bad? But let this pass. If 
you will betake yourself to the task in earnest, if you 
will awake and rise from the dead by your own power, 
if you will at once make yourself a new heart, as you 
are certainly bound to do, I certainly shall not object. 
What I earnestly desire is, to see you a sincere and 
devoted Christian. Give your heart to God without 
waiting a moment for him to make you willing. This 
is what you ought to do. "Repent and be converted, 
that your sins may be blotted out." This is your imme- 
diate duty. 



CONVERSATION XX. 

Inquirer. Availing myself of your kind invitation so 
often given from the pulpit, I have called this evening 
to ask a few questions, and get your views in regard to 
several points on which I need instruction. 

Pastor. I am very happy to see you. Will you pro- 
pose your questions ? 

I. You have often spoken during the revival of the 



SELF-EXAMINATION. 4U 

distress of awakened sinners under genuine conviction, 
in view of their guilt and danger. I have for some time 
been indulging a trembling hope that I have passed 
from death unto life ; but I must relinquish it if none 
can be converted without such distressing antecedent 
convictions, for I have never experienced them. Do 
you think that all who are brought to Christ must pass 
through these deep waters ? 

P. I do not. On this point my own observation coin- 
cides with what I understand to be the true scriptural 
view of the subject. "There are diversities of opera- 
tions, but the same Spirit who worketh all in all." A 
great many are overwhelmed with a sense of their guilt 
and danger. Their sins stare them in the face. The 
law, which "worketh death," thunders so loudly in their 
ears that they can hear nothing else. This appears to 
have been the case with the three thousand on the day 
of Pentecost. They were "pricked in their hearts," and 
cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" This 
was the case with Saul of Tarsus. Being arrested by 
the Lord Jesus on his journey to Damascus, he continued 
three days in such extreme mental anguish that he nei- 
ther ate nor drank. Before this, he "was alive without 
the law ; but when the commandment came, sin revived, 
and he died." So the astonished and convicted jailor at 
Philippi "sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down 
before Paul and Silas, and said, Sirs, what must I do to 
be saved?" I know it is often said that these were 
extraordinary cases ; but I have myself witnessed many 
very much like them, as every pastor must have done 
who has been much conversant with powerful religious 
revivals. 

On the other hand, the Spirit sometimes moves so 
gently and sweetly on the sinner's heart, that he passes 
through the new birth with scarcely any consciousness 



412 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

of its pangs. Zaccheus the publican seems to have 
been of this number. Attracted by curiosity to see the 
Saviour, he runs before the crowd and climbs a syca- 
more-tree, that he may get a better view of him than he 
could from the ground, being "little of stature." "And 
when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said, 
Zaccheus, make haste and come down ; for to-day I must 
abide at thy house. And he made haste and came down, 
and received him joyfully." A few analogous cases have 
fallen under my own observation. Individuals becoming 
interested in the revival, have almost immediately come 
out "rejoicing in hope;" and some of them have worn 
well — they have lived like Christians, and died in peace. 
I have noticed, however, that where "the work of the 
law" does not precede conversion, it is very apt to fol- 
low it. He who does not see much of the plague of his 
own heart before he passes from death unto life, will ere 
long find himself constrained to cry out with the apos- 
tle, " wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me 
from the body of this death ?" 

My own view of the matter is this. Where the doc- 
trines of the gospel are distinguishingly and faithfully 
preached, sinners are generally slain by the Taw, before 
they find joy and peace in believing. But I do not feel 
authorized to say that this is always the case. "The 
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou canst not tell 
whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth ; so is every one 
that is born of the Spirit." But whether the degree of 
conviction and distress be great or comparatively small 
before conversion, the sinner must see and feel enough 
of his guilt to repent, and of his need of a Saviour to 
embrace him. 

Your main difficulty, if I understand it, is that you 
have experienced so little distress in view of your sin- 
fulness and danger. 



SELF-EXAMINATION. 413 

I. It is. When I converse with others, and hear 
them tell into what straits they were brought before 
they found peace ; how their hearts rose against God, 
and how they trembled in view of his power and justice, 
I am afraid my hope is not well founded, for I am sure 
I have not had such experience. 

P. The question is not how much or how little dis- 
tress you may have experienced. Many a sinner has 
been awakened, without being converted. Conviction, 
however clear or long continued, is not regeneration. 
Some "quench the Spirit," and "draw back unto perdi- 
tion," after painful and protracted struggles ; while 
others, "drawn by cords of love," "hold on their way, 
and wax stronger and stronger." Whereas you was 
once blind, do you now see ? The true question is, Are 
you in the ark of safety ? not whether you came in just 
as others do. If you love G-od ; if you delight in his 
law after the inner man ; if you truly and heartily re- 
pent of all your sins ; if Christ is precious to you, and 
you believe on him, and trust in him as "all your salva- 
tion and all your desire," you need not distrust your 
hope because you may not have had so much distress as 
is common, but should rather "give all diligence to make 
your calling and election sure." 

I. There is another thing which sometimes leads me 
to distrust my hope. Some of the young converts can 
tell the hour when they were brought out ; but I cannot 
tell the day, the week, nor even the month. The light, 
if it shines in my heart at all, broke in so gradually that 
I know not when it first began to dawn. If I could 
give the date and place and circumstances of my conver- 
sion, I should feel much more sure than I do now. 

P. This is a point on which I lay very little stress, 
one way or the other, in examining candidates for admis- 
sion to the church. Some converts are undoubtedly able 



474 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

to specify the time when G-od "brought them out of 
darkness into marvellous light." All the circumstances 
are and for ever will be fresh in their recollection. Zac- 
cheus, the jailor, and most of the "three thousand" were 
evidently of this number. 

But so far as my inquiries have extended, a very 
large majority of those who adorn the Christian pro- 
fession cannot tell when they gave their hearts to G-od. 
They can say with happy Bartimeus, "Whereas we were 
blind, now we see ;" but cannot be confident as to the 
precise time when the first ray of light broke in. In 
judging of the spiritual state of inquirers, I have often 
been disappointed both ways. Some who came out re- 
markably clear, and could name the day and hour of 
their conversion, have not only "lost their first love," 
but at length given up their hope, and returned like 
"the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the 
mire." On the contrary, some who are extremely dis- 
trustful of themselves at first, and cannot date their 
hope, gradually wax "strong in the Lord and in the 
power of his might." It is delightful to watch their 
progress, and see how their path, as the shining light, 
" shineth more and more unto the perfect day." " By their 
fruits shall ye know them." It is by leading a humble, 
devoted, and prayerful Christian life, that one gains, and 
gives, the best evidence that he has been born again. 

I. I do not know what to think of myself, and I fear 
I never shall. If I had not lived so carelessly the great- 
er part of my life, I should sometimes think, that if ever 
my heart was changed, it must have been in early child- 
hood. I can recollect some of my feelings then, which 
were as much like love to God and love to Christ as 
any I have had since, if not more. Is it your opinion 
that any are converted so early that they cannot remember 
the time when they began to love the Saviour ? 



SELF-EXAMINATION. 415 

P. I think there are some such, and that as the mil- 
lennium approaches, there will be many more. The tes- 
timony of Scripture seems not only to favor this belief, 
but to require it. The prophet Jeremiah was called and 
sanctified from the womb. So was John the Baptist. 
There can be little doubt that Joseph and Moses and 
Samuel and Daniel and Josiah were all converted in 
early childhood ; and almost every pastor must have 
found individuals among his flock, giving evidence that 
they were converted to God in their early days. Wheth- 
er, if you are a Christian, you was brought in at an 
earlier or later date, I do not pretend to decide ; but I 
fully believe, not only that all infants need to be born 
again, but as I have just said, that some who after- 
wards shine as lights in the world are thus early re- 
newed by the Spirit. 

I. Do you think the first holy exercises after regenera- 
tion are in all cases alike? 

P. By no means. No two cases probably are exactly 
alike. I have found a great diversity in the experience 
of those with whom I have conversed. One first re- 
joices in the love of Christ. Another is overwhelmed 
with shame and contrition in view of his base ingrati- 
tude. Another breaks out in admiration of the infinite 
holiness of God, and the reasonableness and purity of 
his law. One wakes up, as it were, in a new world — 
the sun shines brighter than it ever did before, the earth 
looks lovelier, and all nature seems to be praising God. 
Another has found a new Bible ; another feels his heart 
drawn out in love to the church, and another in compas- 
sion for impenitent sinners. For these and other diver- 
sities of views and exercises when men are first renew- 
ed, we cannot perhaps fully account, but I apprehend 
they may be partly explained in this way. The thoughts 
of different persons are directed to different objects and 



4T6 REVIVAL MANUAL. 

truths at the time of their conversion. One is thinking 
of the goodness of God, another of the holiness of his 
law, another of the death of Christ, and so on ; and the 
heart of each is naturally drawn out first towards the 
object then in view. It is love, or it is repentance, or 
it is faith ; and then other holy exercises follow, one 
after another, as the appropriate objects are presented 
to the mind. 

I. I thank you for the indulgence you have granted 
me, and hope I shall profit by your instructions. On 
some points which were not clear to my mind, I feel 
relieved. Allow me to ask a continued interest in youi 
prayers, that I may not be deceived but be led into all 
truth. 

P. " Examine yourself whether you are in the faith," 
not so much when or where you first embraced Christ, as 
whether you have truly embraced him. Compare your 
feelings and exercises with the Bible — with the tests 
which you will there find, both in the Old Testament 
and the New, in the law and the prophets, in the teach- 
ings of Christ and his inspired apostles. Pray for the 
teaching of the Holy Spirit, yield your whole heart and 
soul to God, and he will guide you by his counsel, and 
afterwards receive you to glory. 



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